


More stern and bloody than the Centaurs' feast.

by CosmosChroniker



Series: More stern and bloody [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Amputation, Blood, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Investigations, M/M, More characters to be added later, Sabotage, Sexual Content, So much violence, War, crokri - Freeform, damcro (pale), how do I even tag this, jacobean revenge tragedy, porcro (black), porrim is a rainbow drinker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-03-29 00:34:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 74,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3875740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmosChroniker/pseuds/CosmosChroniker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The kids and trolls are living on a post-sburb planet while the game loads a new universe for them. They've promised not to kill each other, but tensions are running high and an attack leads to a terrible cycle of revenge and counter-revenge.</p><p>Cronus sat back and looked at his screen – he didn’t think it was a problem on his end, and Kankri’s messages didn’t look like misspellings but full on keyboard smashes. Why would...? With a jolt Cronus remembered Meenah shoving Kankri into the wall, and how tightly Dirk had clenched his fists when he’d suggested a fight… What if he’s hurt?<br/>CA: Kan are you alright?<br/>CA: Kan?<br/>CA: Kan you’re startin to freak me out a little here<br/>CA: okay, look, I’m comin ovwer – don’t say I nevwer do anythin for ya</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting fic online so please let me know if there's stuff I should be tagging - but fair warning: this was loosely inspired by Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus so, uh, expect a bloodbath.  
> Character and relationship development will take time as I'm a fan of the slow-burn (and yes I'll be dealing with the - shall we say - quirks of Cronus' admittedly fairly terrible personality. Bear with me.)  
> The fic is planned and chapter two is half-finished so I'll try to aim for regular updates - but no promises!

It had been a long day on the restructured planet the game was hosting its players on while it rebooted the universe, and Cronus took little solace in the fact that his hive had been recreated almost exactly as he’d last left it… it was too big, too empty and, oddly, too unfamiliar after innumerable sweeps spent drifting in dreambubbles.

Other member of the troll-human group had been excited to find all their hives –and, of course, “homes”- spaced out on the strange barren planet, but then _they_ were all busy hanging out at each other’s places and reminiscing over old belongings.

Cronus looked around his bare respiteblock, idly wishing he hadn’t thrown out all his old wizard memorabilia after getting back, and unsuccessfully supressing bitterness over finding himself left out of plans.

Patently ignoring his husktop, and the evil little chat window reminding him that no one wanted to talk to him, he lit up a cigarette like Damara had shown him and cautiously took a drag. He liked the buzz the nicotine sent running under his skin, and the silky feel of smoke escaping the flaps of his neck-gills – but with his dual respiratory system he had to take slow, steady drags to avoid a coughing fit. He’d resolved to practise smoking in private before doing it in public again – Damara had nearly pissed herself cackling in that maniacal way of her the first time Cronus had doubled over hacking half way through his smooth line.

The memory made him cringe and he reached for his guitar for want of something better to do, settling in to strum idly and fill up his respiteblock with hazy smoke. A typical Ampora evening.

Thinking about it as he crooned a half-remembered song to himself, Cronus reflected that maybe being out of the drama tonight wasn’t the worst thing – he didn’t feel like dealing with the fallout from earlier.

The assembled group was a considerable one – with eight humans and twenty-four trolls – but they had been managing so far, and earlier that day they had let the younger Vantas officiate a simple meeting about food and provisions on the planet, in an open cave-structure that was nicer than the barren surface of the rest of the planet.

The other Captor insisted they wouldn’t be on the planet forever – the game was just taking time to load an optimum universe for all players, and the human called Rose had come with the surprising revelation that they had unlimited grist and could alchemise pretty much anything they wanted.

The other Leijon had piped up that she hadn’t given up hope of finding something to hunt (and Cronus had only eyed her for a _split-second_ before the other Zahak had coughed meaningfully and fixed him with a dark look. Like, what? Cronus couldn’t even _look_ at her? Whatever.)

It was half way through the discussion about what constituted appropriate things to alchemise (both Pyrope’s were clearly having fun suggesting the most ridiculous things with looks of perfect innocence on their teal-tinged faces) – when Kankri had piped up, apparently taking offense about the number of expletive’s Karkat (yes, that was his name, the one Meenah liked for no discernible reason) used in casual speech.

Karat made the rookie mistake of letting Kankri work up a lather and Kankri had batted away Porrim’s hand when she tried to quiet him. It had been the human called Dirk who had piped up with a quiet, but cutting, “Hey here’s an idea, why don’t you shut the _fuck_ up?”

Kankri had been stunned into silence for a second and Dirk had continued in a tone of quiet rage, “Getting real tired of your shit, if I’m honest. Now can the bearable Vantas continue talking? Thanks.”

Kankri managed to shake off his paralysis and replied with what no doubt would have been a wonderful lecture on #triggering language had not both Meenah and the other Serket joined in, clearly taking an evil glee in what they saw as an excuse for a slanging match. Kankri had tried to talk over them as if he couldn’t hear their insults, but when Porrim tried to take his side things really dissolved into chaos, with Kankri breaking his usual composure and roaring back with words that put Karkat to shame – and eventually half the group were embroiled in the fight, while the other half enjoyed the entertainment.

“Hey look! This is the most interested anyone’s ever been in anything you’ve ever said,” Dirk had called coolly, “You know no one actually listen to you, right?”

Roxy had tugged at him, but he had apparently reached some sort of limit because he stepped up to join the circle around Kankri.

“Listen to this: _fuck you!_ ” Kankri had yelled back, voice strained, face flushed with his strange red blood, his fists clenched and trembling at his side.

“That all you got?” Dirk had replied, smirking infuriatingly, “Why don’t we take this outside?”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Meenah had laughed, “His only weapon’s his mouth – it’s big enough I’ll grant you-“

Kankri had opened his mouth again to say something and Meenah had casually reached up to his face and slammed him hard into the cave wall.

“But it’s not much good for anything but blabbing,’” she finished, accepting Dirk’s fist bump.

“Meenah!” Porrim had begun, gathering herself up to reprimand the heiress – only to see Kankri scrabble up and run for a transportaliser, and run after him shouting “Kankri!” uselessly as he disappeared.

The meeting had broken up not long after that, actually, Cronus mused – there had been a sense of unease – a sourness hanging over everyone. Everyone was a little stressed and tensions had been high these last few weeks – but taking it out on Kankri hadn’t felt… right. Sure, the guy didn’t shut up and could be pretty insufferable on certain topics – but seeing so many people stand up to shout him down – or just sit by, laughing and clapping- must have been awful. Cronus thought that anyone could have been the subject of attack, actually – it was more motivated by a need for stress-relief than actual hatred of Kankri… right?

Frowning as he second guessed himself, Cronus put his guitar aside and finished his cigarette before deciding that it couldn’t hurt to check up on Kankri. …Just in case. He was one of the few people who actually gave Cronus the time of night, after all – he was always up for a chat (even if it involved a lot of Kankri talking and Cronus eyeing him up for want of something better to do).

 _Speak of the devil_. Just as Cronus reached for his husktop a notification alert chimed and Kankri’s pesterchum window flashed on the screen.

CG: iuefiefig;u.wefngiukj.bjgk/wuri;hoewg;/uiegbju

Cronus blinked at the message and waited for Kankri to correct himself. After a second he typed back a hesitant,

CA: Kan? That you?

The reply came immediately,

CG: ilufiulgg.ihdf.bkje m,bwjbvglbv

CA: Somethin vwrong vwith your husktop there chief? Vwhat’s vwith the key smashin?

CG: sbk,hj

CA: Kan? Are ya there? Or am I talkin to an intrudin purrbeast?

Cronus sat back and looked at his screen – he didn’t think it was a problem on his end, and Kankri’s messages didn’t look like misspellings but full on keyboard smashes. Why would...? With a jolt Cronus remembered Meenah shoving Kankri into the wall, and how tightly Dirk had clenched his fists when he’d suggested a fight… _What if he’s hurt?_

CA: Kan are you alright?

CA: Kan?

CA: Kan you’re startin to freak me out a little here

CA: okay, look, I’m comin ovwer – don’t say I nevwer do anythin for ya

Rubbing the tiredness from his eyes Cronus briefly wondered if he was being had – but practical jokes weren’t Kankri’s style – and anyway, if everything was okay maybe Kan would let him stay for a movie or something… and if not-

He shook his head, determined not to assume the worst, and grabbed up his jacket and smokes before heading out. Cronus let the door to his hive shut behind him but didn’t bother locking up – it’s not like there were enough people on this weird planet to need hive security, and took the transportaliser route he knew could get him to Kankri’s with four short hops.

Cronus arrived outside Kankri’s squat little hive maybe five minutes after he’d left his own, but it had been long enough for a twist of dread to take hold in the pit of his stomach, and as he reached for the door handle he realised with a jolt that he was sporting a cold sweat worthy of a Zahak.

 _Relax, everything’s probably fine – we all agreed not to kill each other_. He thought, but at the same time he couldn’t help noticing that the door swung in strangely as it opened, almost as it had been forced-

“Kan?” Cronus called, forcing his voice to remain steady. _The lights are on, he’ll be in his respiteblock_.

“Kan?” he tried again, ignoring the nervous fluttering of his fins around his face as he walked through each successively empty room on the ground floor.

“Kan?” he called up the stairs – and was rewarded this time with a strange little moan that sounded like no sound Kankri Vantas would ever make.

Somehow, though, the sound sent a lance of fear though Cronus that made him feel as if he’d been doused in ice water. He took the stairs three at a time and slammed into Kankri’s respiteblock where-

There was a huddled figure in the corner of the room, trying to hide ineffectually behind Kankri’s desk.

“Kan?” Cronus’ voice wavered shamefully and the awful moan his voice elicited in reply made him stop in the doorway, unable to take another step for fear of what he might find.

It was only then that Cronus registered that this room was dark and, breathing shallowly, he reached up to flick on the light – revealing the bright red carpet and-

No. Kankri’s carpet was beige. And something else was nagging at him too – his hand had come away from the lightswitch _sticky_.

 _Blood_.

The lightswitch had been smeared with _blood_ , and Kankri’s bright candy-red blood had been split enough in here to coat the carpet until it was unrecognisable.

That thought managed to snap Cronus out of his paralysis and he lurched forward to where Kankri was huddled behind the desk.

“Kan- _oh_.” Cronus felt like he’d been punched in the gut.

Kankri was a gruesome sight, naked and bloody, and whoever had attacked him had carved the word “shhh” deeply into his stomach – and hacked off both hands at the wrists.

 _I don’t know what to do_. Was the first thought that ran through Cronus’ mind – but he had to do _something_ – Kankri was shaking and jerking in distress or pain, his eyes were huge and terrified and his breath came quick and shallow as red-tinged tears streaked down his face.

“Don – don’t worry- I’ll – I’ve got you,” Cronus muttered, grabbing the blanket off the back of Kankri’s desk chair – trying to ignore the pools of thick red blood congealing across the desk and husktop – and tried to cover the stricken troll the best he could, wincing at the way Kankri moaned and thrashed weakly, blindly panicking and trying to escape the next bout of pain.

“Kan, what-? Who-?” Cronus began, but Kankri moaned again then and a fresh stream of blood came out of his mouth to add to the blood already covering him. _His tongue as well?_ Cronus crouched down over him to try see if he was right – but at that Kankri’s made a horrible choked sobbing noise and jerked away, trying almost to hide himself inside the wall behind him.

“Kan no, shh shh, it’s me I’ll – I’ll get help-“ Cronus cried softly, gesturing helplessly, and wiping the thick violet tears he hadn’t noticed had started streaking down his cheeks, “I’ll get help it’ll be okay.”

 _Will it? He’s lost an awful lot of blood._ A voice asked treacherously inside his head, but Cronus grabbed Kankri’s husktop determinedly and opened an emergency pesterchum memo – wiping ineffectually at the blood streaks on the keyboard and screen.

He quickly changed the setting so the memo would open in everyone’s screens – everyone that was still awake or online at least – and began typing frantically, not bothering with his quirk:

CA: if anyone’s online and can see this please help

CA: hello???

CA: is anyone online please PLEASE I’m beggin help

He tapped nervously on the desk for what felt like an hour, but couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds. Then a thought occurred:

CA: it’s not for me it’s for Kankri

CA: he’s hurt so bad please I don’t know what to do

GA: Cro+nus? What’s go+ing o+n? Is Kankri o+kay?

He laughed then, a strange, bitter bark of a laugh.

CA: NO. PLEASE HELP ME.

GA: O+kay just calm down, what exactly is wro+ng?

CA: his hands

CA: oh god someone cut off his hands

GA: WHAT???

CA: and his tongue I think

GA: I’m co+ming o+ver @Kanaya can yo+u alchemize so+me things fo+r me

gA: Of Course, What Do You Require?

GA: medical thread, needles, scapel, iv bags, things o+f that nature, use yo+ur co+mmon sense I trust yo+ur judgement

gA: Right Away

Cronus felt the tiniest hint of relief – and then a muffled whimper from Kankri reminded him of how dire the situation was

CA: please please come as fast as you can he’s bleeding so much

CA: what do I do??

tA: put 2ome pre22ure on the godamn wound2 iidiiot

Cronus could have kicked himself. Panic was clouding his judgement far too much. 

CA: oh god yes, okay, doing that now - @Porrim you are coming yes?

GA: YES, and actually yo+ung capto+r can yo+u co+me to+o+. we might need yo+ur psiio+nics

GA: fo+r cauterising

tA: yeah okay

tA: uh, KK you readiing thii2 2hiit?

cG: OF COURSE I FUCKING AM

cG: PESTCHUM PRETTY MUCH BLEW UP MY FUCKING HUSKTOP

cG: EVERYONE’S READING THIS FUCKING TRAINWRECK

cG: THERE’S AN ALERT EVERY FUCKING MILISECOND

tA: KK come wiith me

cG: WAIT WHAT.

cG: WHY

tA: moral 2upport you in2ensiitiive fuck

cG: SOLLUX I FUCKING HATE BLOOD

cG: I WON’T BE MUCH SUPPORT IF I’M PASSED OUT ON THE FUCKING FLOOR

GA: karkat I understand yo+ur po+sitio+n but actually I need so+llux to fly yo+u o+ver

GA: because if kankri’s lo+st that much blo+o+d …

cG: WHAT?

cG: OH

cG: OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE OKAY THEN I GUESS

Cronus pushed himself away from the husktop reluctantly but firmly – realising he was following the conversation to avoid facing his broken friend on the floor beside him.

“Kan? How – how’re you doing?” he croaked, cursing himself for such a stupid question. Kankri made another tiny whimpering sound and Cronus forced himself to stand up and approach him slowly.

“Kan? It’s me, it’s Cronus… I’m – I’m not going to hurt you okay? I just have to hold your- uh – your wrists until help gets here-“

Kankri seemed unable to focus on him – and he jerked again when Cronus sat down next to him. His stumps, stomach and mouth were all bleeding freely and a part of Cronus wanted nothing more than to run as fast and as far away from the whole grisly situation as possible, but he managed to grit his teeth and pull Kankri into his lap, gripping his wrists tight in front of him and settling Kankri’s bare back against his chest so he could support him better.

“Kan?” he murmured thickly, swallowing tears he couldn’t seem to control, “Kan I’ve got you now – I’m sorry if this hurts but I’ve got to try stop the bleeding.”

Kankri stopped writhing in his grasp then, but let out an anguished cry that provoked an answering sob in Cronus.

“Hey, hey, relax, it’s gunna be okay,” he managed to gasp, before catching sight of the awful bruises up Kankri’s bare legs.

_Why was he naked?_ The voice whispered, and Cronus pushed that thought down again, but reached down to pull the blanket fully over Kankri.

They sat there, Kankri shaking and moaning softly, Cronus holding his wrists in front of him and trying to keep calm as Kankri’s blood and sweat seeped into his clothes, for what felt like an age – until finally he heard the front door slam open.  

“Kankri!” Porrim’s voice was agitated and harsh enough to make Kankri cry softly and push himself back into Cronus weakly.

“Up here,” Cronus called, his voice cracking, “Help, please…”

Kankri jerked against him weakly and sobbed,

“Hey, hey, I’ve got you Kan, help’s coming shhh.” He’d been repeating such mindless platitudes for the last – however long it had been – anything to drown out the sticky, gasping noises Kankri made as he struggled to breathe though his own blood.

“Holy fuck.” The tall skinny Captor had stopped in the doorway, hands flying to his mouth in shock.

“Move.” Porrim pushed him aside impatiently and crossed the room in two quick strides. The sight of her kneeling in the gory carpet in her stylish dress made a bubble of hysterical laughter rise up in Cronus throat, but he managed to choke it down, and whisper out another soothing phrase.

Porrim’s eyes were shiny with tears, but she got to work quickly, whipping a damp cloth from her sylladex and cleaning the blood from Kankri’s face, neck and torso.

“I’m just going to clean you up a little bit Kankri okay? Are you with me?”

Kankri made a noise that could have been a yes – or just another moan of pain as the cloth brushed over the deep gouges in his stomach.

“Kankri?” She stopped wiping for a second and took his face in her hands, “Kankri I can’t imagine the pain you’re in, but in a few minutes Kanaya should be here with medical supplies and we’ll- we’ll-“

“Fix everything?” Cronus offered, the strange hysteria rising again.

Porrim reached up behind Kankri and slapped him hard across the face – and then seemed to register his tears.

“Sorry. Are you okay?”

Cronus considered the question. He still had his hands and tongue, and no one had carved anything into his stomach, but sat there with his – for lack of a better word – best friend mutilated and writhing in his lap he couldn’t consider himself “okay” but any means.

“No.” he managed to say, levelly, “But let’s focus on Kankri right now.”

Porrim nodded, then gasped in relief as Kanaya dashed in, accompanied by the human Rose, and handed her a bag of supplies.

“I would suggest cleaning the wrists then cutting them cleanly so you have a flap of skin to sew back over the stump.” Rose said, curiously calm. “The wrists have to be the priority – he’s lost too much blood already.”

“When you need Karkat he’s currently being sick in the bathroom - Sollux is with him.” Kanaya added.

Rose and Kanaya began to clean what they could of the room with cloths and disinfectant, and Cronus watched in horror as Porrim began to cut away some of the raw jagged flesh left at the end of one of Kankri’s wrists.

The noise Kankri made in response was awful – a gargled bloody scream, slamming himself back into Cronus and collapsing into hysterical gasping tears.

“Stop – stop!” Cronus yelled, “You’re hurting him – don’t we have a- a painkiller or something?”

“We don’t know how to alchemise a safe anaesthetic” Rose said softly, “Or really how to alchemise one at all.”

“Hold him still.” Porrim commanded,

“Stop cutting him!” Cronus snarled back, “Just bandage him up already!”

“Bandages aren’t going to be enough!” she yelled, almost butting her horns into his – then seemed to remember Kankri between them.

“Hold him still,” she bit out, “I’m going to do this as quickly as possible.”

As she cut away the mutilated flesh Cronus held Kankri tightly to him and muttered soothing words, but it didn’t stop Kankri from crying out and retching.

“Here,” Rose said, squatting down beside them and holding up a bowl for Kankri to retch fresh red blood and spit into. She wiped his sweat-slicked hair back from his forehead and cleaned away what blood she could while Porrim worked- and after what felt like an hour the older Maryam sat back and examined the stumps grimly.

“That might do. I’m going to sew and bandage them tight – I’m just worried that the second you let go they’ll just keep bleeding…” She shrugged and got to sewing.

“Hey Kan, shhh, I got you” Cronus kept up his low mantra and Kankri struggled feebly, and before long his wrists were tightly bound – but, just as Porrim had said, the second Cronus prised his iron-grip off Kankri’s thin wrists the white bandages were soaked with thick red.

“We can come back to them later if need be – that’s what Sollux is here for.” Rose said quickly, seeing Porrim’s dismay, “We should probably work on stopping all bleeding – I… I honestly don’t understand how he’s still alive – a human would have bleed out some time ago – but since he hasn’t yet let’s not waste time and give him the chance to.”

Cronus nodded grimly and looked at Porrim.

“Okay. So. Now.” Porrim sat back on her heels and was clearly trying to keep her voice calm, but her blood soaked hands shook and her eyes were wide and wild.

“Maybe his stomach so we can get some clothes on him – and then the tongue if it’s still bleeding?” Cronus suggested, and Porrim nodded gratefully at the suggestion.

Kankri was cradling his wrists to his chest and shaking and Cronus was loathe to move him, but they needed him to slide down Cronus a little – so Porrim could sew the gashes in his stomach.

Kankri’s eyes were glazed and he stared up at Cronus blearily as Porrim worked, and he seemed unaware of the tears slipping out and down his face.

“How you doing, Kan?” Cronus asked gently, but Kankri seemed to have gone somewhere else. He came back to reality when Porrim reached round his hips with bandages–

His eyes widened in panic and his head snapped down to her as he scrambled back on his elbows.

“I’m just bandaging you Kankri,” she said, uncertainly, “Can I carry on?”

He nodded stiffly, but went rigid and couldn’t relax until her hands had left him.

“We can clean you up now and deal with your tongue later – or – or maybe we should do the tongue first?”

Apparently a little more lucid than before – _maybe thanks to adrenaline?_ \- Kankri twisted round to look at Cronus, a plea in his eyes – but Cronus was too tired or too shellshocked to read the meaning. Kankri shrugged helplessly, and looked back at Porrim, his face drawn and miserable.

“How about… we get you some pants and get you out of this room?” Cronus suggested, looking around at the scene of carnage, “We can deal with your tongue downstairs and then… anything else.”

Rose looked at him sharply then, but said nothing, and Kankri lay back, eyed scrunched closed and breathing raggedly as Porrim helped Cronus pull a pair of baggy sweatpants up his skinny, bruised legs.

Cronus stood stiffly, muscles screaming as he rose from his cramped position and supporting Kankri as best he could – but the moment they were standing Kankri staggered, reached out with hands that were no longer there, and collapsed.

“Blood loss,” Porrim said, dismayed, looking at Rose for guidance.

“Get him downstairs, on the kitchen table. I’ll set up the IVs if you get Karkat,” Rose said, directing the last part at Kanaya, who ran from the room.

Cronus gathered the little bundle that was Kankri into his arms and carried him on stiff legs down the stairs, laying the broken body out on the nutritionblock table and carefully titling his head to the side so blood could trickle from his mouth.

Kankri seemed to be still breathing – his ribcage moved jerkily, shifting the bandages wrapped around his wounds – but his skin was so pale it was almost white, and his wrists were dripping red through their bandages.

“Move”. Rose ordered firmly, positioning Kankri more comfortably and pulling equipment from her syllabus.

As Kanaya and Sollux ushered a shaky-looking Karkat into the room Porrim came up behind Cronus and slipped a hand into his. He jerked at the unexpected gesture, and looked at her curiously, but she refused to take her eyes off of Kankri. She squeezed his hand a few times and then went to the sink to splash her face with water, leaving Cronus feeling strangely comforted by the tiny gesture.

Kanaya had sat Karkat down in a kitchen chair and went to yank up a shirt sleeve but he caught her hand and eyed her with a look of… what? ... Fear and… guilt maybe? Cronus couldn’t read the urgent message in his eyes, but Kanaya seemed to, pursing her lips and rolling up the other sleeve while muttering something to him that made him cringe and nod earnestly.

Any other day Cronus might have interjected and demanded to know what was going on between them, but today all he could think was that with every wasted second Kankri was bleeding out on the table. He bit his lips hard and crossed his arms across his broad chest, and screwed his eyes tight to stop himself from exploding with frustration and directionless rage as he heard Sollux mutter “eyes on me Vantas, it’ll be done in like two seconds don’t look – _don’t look idiot_ ”. The whole thing took maybe five minutes before Kankri had a drip of blood entering his system but every second wore down nerves he didn’t have left.

While waiting for Kankri to “stabilise” as Rose put it, Cronus went out, past where Kanaya and Karkat were having a hissed conversation in the hallway, and dragged himself upstairs. He flinched away from the bedroom and went for the bathroom instead, wrinkling his nose at the lingering smell of vomit, but managing to relax somewhat as cold tap water removed some of the blood and sweat coating his face and neck.

“How’re you doing?” Porrim said quietly behind him, making him jump.

“Fine,” he ground out, “you?”

“Fine.” She replied archly, smirking slightly as his fins flared out in anger.

“Okay so I’m not fine. You’re not fine. Kankri’s definitely not fine – in fact this whole situation is a whole new level of fucked up.” He hissed, his fists clenched so hard his nails pierced the skin, “Is that what you want to hear?”

“I want to make sure we’re on the same page,” she said, “And by the looks of things you’re as furious as I am. That’s good.”

“I – what?” Cronus floundered somewhat – enough rage in his veins to make him want to punch walls, but utterly sidelined by Porrim’s cryptic words.

“Look,” she said, pushing him down to sit on the edge of the ablution trap and snagging a flannel to swab blood from his arms and shirt as she spoke, “I’m… fairly sure Kankri will pull through this. But regardless, I am going to hunt down whoever did this. And I am going to make them suffer.” She leaned in until she was eye-to-eye with Cronus. “Are you in?” A tear escaped from one of her burning jade eyes and Cronus nodded, mesmerised.

“I’m in.”

“Good.” She said, straightening up and dashing the tear from her cheek. “Come on, we need to sort out his tongue and then maybe we can think about getting him to sleep.”

She swept out of the room and Cronus gaped after her for a moment before following her back down.

Karkat sat at the bottom of the stairs and nodded uncertainly at Cronus as he passed. Inside the kitchen Rose and Kanaya were holding bandages to Kankri’s wrists and Sollux was lurking to one side, looking uncomfortable.

“Is he awake?” Porrim asked breathlessly,

“Yes.” Rose replied curtly, “Porrim we need to do something about the bleeding – his tongue but his wrists as well-“

“Mr Captor, you’re up.” Porrim commanded, with only the smallest trace of a tremor in her voice, and Sollux jerked forward as if a jolt of electricity had gone through him. “You too Cronus.”

She got Cronus to stand behind the table and manoeuvre Kankri until he rested against his chest as he had in the bedroom. Kankri was indeed awake, but listless – he felt like a ragdoll in Cronus’ arms, and when Cronus called his name the only response he got were glassy red-tinged eyes rolled up at him for a moment before they dropped again.

“What should I- what do you-“

“The wrists haven’t stopped bleeding – I’m… I’m not surprised – I’m not a doctorturer.” Porrim said faltering, “It would be best to seal them first, I think.” She looked at Cronus then as if for validation and he just nodded helplessly.

Rose and Kanaya removed the bandages and cut away the stitches quickly. Cronus whispered to Kankri to brace himself – but the message didn’t seem to reach him, as the second the first bolt of psionic energy touched the oozing mutilated flesh of his wrists he screamed and arched his back, before collapsing back against Cronus and shaking uncontrollably.

“Kan- it’ll only take a second- Kan-” Cronus felt a sick, guiltily feeling crawling up his throat. Kankri had had enough pain – but what could they do?

“Should I- do you want me to continue?” Sollux asked, face shiny with sweat, his face mirroring Cronus’ own horror.

“Just do it quickly,” Porrim ordered, “Cronus hold him tight.”

A minute later the air smelt of scorched flesh, and Kankri was a quivering, mewling mess trying to hide himself in Cronus’ chest – but his wrists had stopped bleeding.

Porrim rested a hand on his shoulder and reached over to gently stoke Kankri’s matted hair as Rose and Kanaya bandaged his arms again.

“Just the tongue now.”

“Wait.” Sollux said, leaning over with his hands on his knees to steady himself, “Wait.”

“Sollux – are you going to be sick-?” Kanaya asked, reaching out to him,

“No- no I-” he waved her away, “I just need a sec.” His face was pale.

“Do you want me to get Karkat?” she offered quietly.

“I-. Yes.” He whispered back.

“This is the last thing. Then you can go home.” Porrim said quietly as Karkat was hustled into the room.

Sollux nodded, then straightened himself up, a look of grim determination on his thin face.

“Why do I have to be in here?” Karkat huffed.

“For moral fucking support you asshole.” Sollux snapped back shakily, and then nodded gratefully at Karkat as he placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Okay. Okay. Let’s just fucking get this done.” Sollux said, “…His mouth needs to be open.”

Cronus jerked and then pulled Kankri up a little straighter against him.

“Kan… you there? You with me?”

Kankri turned dull eyes up to meet his and nodded slowly.

“This is the last thing we have to do, okay. The last thing. I promise.” Kankri nodded again, seemingly unwilling to look away from Cronus’ face. “Kan. Kan, you gotta open your mouth.”

Tears spilled unbidden down Kankri’s drawn face but he nodded and turned back to Sollux.

Porrim leaned in and wiped the fresh blood from his chin and neck, then held the bundle of cloth under Kankri’s chin.

“Spit.”

Kankri opened his mouth and sputtered out a gobbet of blood – the thick red liquid coated his teeth and lips and stained the rags.

“Okay wait.” Rose got a glass of water and bought it over, “Can you rinse your mouth out?”

Kankri looked at her and made a sound that might have been a laugh or a sob, and Cronus tightened an arm around his middle,

“Nearly over,” he reminded him quietly, and Kankri nodded and rinsed his mouth with some difficulty, spitting into the proffered bowl and moaning quietly at the mess of blood and spit before it was whisked away again.

“Okay, go.” Porrim ordered again and Cronus gently held Kankri’s chin as Sollux used one hand to hold open Kankri’s mouth and the other to point and direct his psionics.

Kankri jerked but managed not to bite off Sollux’s fingers, and when it was done he raised his bandaged stumps to cover his mouth and leant back to shiver in Cronus’ arms as Porrim thanked the others and ushered them away.

“I’ll let you know if we need any more help …. No we’ll be fine from here on out … get home safe.” The words drifted through Cronus’ mind without taking hold and he continued in a state of fog through the ordeal that was getting Kankri bathed and into fresh clothes and into the human bed in the spare room.

Finally Cronus seemed to come to, sat on Kankri’s couch with his head in his hands. He realised a voice had asked him something.

“Sorry, what?” he managed and Porrim came into view, cleaned and in new clothes.

“I said you can use the ablution-trap now if you want. Unless you’re planning on going home?”

Cronus opened his mouth but couldn’t quite manage to say any of the replies that came to mind: “ _Of course I’m not leaving him.” “I’ll use the abultiontrap in a sec, just give me a minute.” “Is he asleep? Is he okay?”_

He gaped a Porrim for a second then put his head back in his hands, giving up.

A second later warm hands took him by the wrists and pulled them away from his face, and then Porrim was moving in to straddle him.

“You can relax now,” she said quietly, settling herself on his lap and touching his face softly.

The first thought was surprisingly _not_   “ _holy fucking shit Porrim Maryam is on my lap_ ” but a detached “ _she shouldn’t be pressing up against me in clean clothes – I’m still filthy_.”

He almost laughed at how ridiculous the situation was, but Porrim stopped him by pushing her mouth against his and drawing him into a hot, deep kiss that left him speechless.

“Uh-“ he began, but she put a finger against his lips and pushed him back into the couch, moving herself until she was flush against him with a roll of her arse that Cronus had _dreamed_ about feeling against his crotch.

“You did well today.” She whispered into his ear, her hot breath tickling him and heating him up almost as much as the rest of her body pushed against him, “And I think you and I might make a good team when it comes to revenge. Which I want in _abundance_.”

“You’ll get it,” Cronus gasped as Porrim rolled her hips against him again, “If I have anything to do with it – I want them – whoever they are - to suffer as much as you do.”

“Good” she purred, reaching down to push a hand up under his shirt and smirking as the contact made him hiss. “As for right now – I don’t like you Cronus Ampora, and I’m as of yet undecided whether or not I can respect you – but as we’re united on this goal, I don’t see why we can’t help each other out.”

Cronus was about to ask what she meant by that when her breath tickled his gills and two sharp points were suddenly pricking his neck.

“There’s been a lot of blood in my general vicinity today. And I have been under an enormous amount of stress – therefore it has been _agony_ keeping my thirst at bay.” She mumbled against his neck, her body still pressed up against him as her fingers lazily stroked his sides. Cronus could feel the sweat beading on his forehead and found himself lost for words for the second time in as many minutes.

“I’ve always wanted to try a royal vintage.” Porrim crooned, her voice low and dangerous, “Are you in? I get the feeling you could use some… stress relief… too.”

She pulled back just enough to allow one hand to trail down his chest and hook two fingers into the waistband of his blood-stained jeans,

His reply was more moan than coherent word, but he managed to get out a “yes” before she captured his mouth again, doing that amazing movement on his lap that made heat coil in the pit of his stomach before moving her mouth up to his neck once more.

“Wonderful,” she hissed, licking a strip up his neck and then settling her fangs against the tender flesh there, “Now I’ll warn you Mr Ampora, this might hurt.”





	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cronus is caring for Kankri while Porrim investigates leads on who the attackers could be, but they're both itching for revenge and there's only so much they can take out on each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure what it says about me that I can write horrible violence and gore without batting an eyelid but sit blushing furiously when I try to write, uh, intimate situations. I'm blushing now. Oh boy.  
> This is a kind of calm-before-the-storm chapter, but I thought it was necessary before things descend into true revenge-tragedy mayhem.  
> I'm aiming to update at least once a week - any constructive criticism is appreciated :)

Cronus jerked awake at the sound of Kankri’s cry and winced as pain lanced up his neck. Muttering darkly about _rainbow drinking bitches_ he padded slowly up the stairs to the spare room – learning from the experiences of the last week to not go barrelling into the room.

“Kan? Kankri? It’s Cronus, I’m coming in okay?” he called, grimacing at the roughness of his voice. He counted to five in his head then pushed open the door.

Kankri looked up blearily from under his bundle of blankets and then sat up, flushing, unable to meet Cronus’ concerned gaze.

He hadn’t yet managed to sleep through a day without having terrible daymares – Cronus wanted to tell him it was nothing to be ashamed of considering what he’s gone through, but Kankri was a ball of rage and shame and fear that he hadn’t quite figured out how to deal with yet.

He was aware that he couldn’t talk to Kankri like a wriggler, but it was difficult when there were basic needs to be seen to that Kankri simply _couldn’t_ deal withwithout hands – and communication was so limited when Kankri could only nod of shake his head in response to questions.

“Here let me get that chief- _Kan_ ,” he corrected himself quickly at Kankri’s glare. “You’re a bit tangled.”

It was almost lucky the game had provided both human and troll furnishings, since the blankets of the human bed seemed comforting for Kankri and didn’t pose any risk of sopor slime getting into healing wounds, but it still took some getting used to. Cronus untangled the bed sheets and then sat down next to Kankri. His first instinct would be to hug him, or maybe put a hand on his shoulder – but Kankri was never one for physical contact _before_ the attack.

“So. You hungry? You want to maybe come downstairs for a bit?”

Kankri turned his face to Cronus just long enough to shake his head emphatically – his eyes were heavily bagged and his skin was sallow, highlighting the jut of his sharp cheekbones.

“Kan…”

Kankri rolled his eyes and lay back down on the bed, putting an arm over his face. _Get out. Leave me alone_.

“Okay well you don’t _have_ to come downstairs but I’ve got to change your bandages. …And… and Kan you really _need_ to eat something.”

Kankri let out a low growl, but allowed Cronus to help him up and nudge him into the ablutionblock. Kankri hated getting his bandages changed but he also hated everything that wasn’t sleeping under blankets at the moment – and Cronus knew Porrim would kill him if he didn’t at least keep Kankri clean and fed… Not that Kan had eaten much of anything without immediately being sick but Cronus was _trying_ _for fucks sake._

He rubbed his neck again and winced. Porrim was definitely taking her pain and anger out on him – which he didn’t mind exactly – but it was hardly fair to blame him for Kankri’s state when Cronus spent every hour of the day trying his best to look after him. Unlike Ms Maryam who kept fucking off to do her “investigations”…

Kankri hissed as Cronus pushed him down onto the loadgaper seat and started unwrapping his wrists.

“It’ll be over in like two minutes. If you don’t thrash around and try and kill me.”

Kankri snorted but Cronus knew that seeing his wounds scared him and he felt vulnerable when his skin was exposed.

“Two minutes.” Cronus said again, reaching for the clean bandages and sharp-smelling ointment Rose had sent over. “Arms up.”

Kankri nodded, uncertainly, but didn’t lift his arms.

“Kan it makes sense to do your stomach first. And you might want to wash anyway – or change your shirt..?”

Kankri glared back sullenly before finally dropping his eyes and raising his arms enough for Cronus to pull his shirt off over his head.

He sat shivering as Cronus sponged him clean with warm soapy water, and then tackled the thick cuts on his stomach.

As he worked Cronus couldn’t help but remember how Kankri had screamed and thrashed the first night as he and Porrim had sluiced the gore off him in the ablutiontrap and then passed out heavily as Porrim was trying to dry him off. Cronus shook the images out of his head and finished wrapping a clean bandage over the scars quickly.

 _SHHH_ …

The message had been well and truly received, it seemed – as Kankri would only shake his head or leave the room at any questions as to who had attacked him.

Kankri’s wrists were healing fine, not as quickly as a highblood’s would, but healing all the same and soon Cronus had a fresh shirt tugged down over his birdnest of ratty black hair.

“There. That wasn’t so bad was it?”

He got nothing but a glare in return, so he backed off a bit and tried a hesitant smile.

“Look, Kan, I know you don’t want to – but will you come down just to eat something? Or… or drink a glass of fuckin’ water at least?”

Kankri looked at him for a long moment- _shouldn’t swear, gotta mind my stupid mouth more-_ then nodded, his face suddenly drawn and exhausted.

 “Okay, uh, good – Porrim sent over some soup, it’s probably way better than anything I can make.”

The vacuum of Kankri’s silence set Cronus on edge, so he found himself just babbling to fill the void more often than not. He wondered if it was pissing Kankri off. Probably.

Downstairs he set a bowl of the soup in front of Kankri and sat down awkwardly next to him.

Eating must be hard enough with a mutilated mouth, Cronus mused, but the worst thing was that someone had to sit and feed Kankri – which he obviously thought was the height of humiliation judging by the red flush across his face that was already rising.

“Would you – I could maybe alchemise a straw if you want?” Cronus asked, but Kankri just sighed and shook his head.

Cronus nodded and lifted a spoonful to his mouth. Kankri looked at it for a second as if it was poison, then accepted the spoonful, wincing a little as he swallowed.

“…Too hot?”

Kankri shook his head, but took each further spoonful gingerly, and not long later pushed himself back violently from the table to go throw up in the sink.

“Hey, hey Kan it’s okay.” Cronus muttered, patting his back softly and scraping his hair back out the way as he retched and moaned miserably. “Is it… does your tongue still hurt?”

Kankri didn’t answer, just spat and panted over the sink, before turning and making a waving motion over his mouth.

“Wha-? oh, yeah.” Cronus helped him clean his teeth and then poured a glass of water. “Please at least drink this. You have to drink.”

When he lifted it to Kankri’s lips, there was no resistance – in fact Kankri gulped down the water thirstily, barely noticing when some splashed down onto his shirt.

“Were you _that_ thirsty?” Cronus gaped, “Why didn’t you-” _Say anything??_ “let me know?” he finished lamely.

Kankri shrugged.

“Do you want more?” Kankri nodded and gulped down another glass before nodding at Cronus and disappearing back off upstairs.

Cronus watched him go, then finished the soup left on the table and went to lie in front of the television until Kankri next needed him. Considering all he had to do recently was wait around for Kankri to need help, it was strangely exhausting.

 _Probably not helped by Porrim barging in every few days demanding a fucking “drink”._ He thought, irritably scratching at his neck – the wounds healed fast enough, highblood that he was, but she re-opened them so often – and their encounters were always somewhat… rough… so he ended up with bruises in the muscles of his throat that nagged at him constantly.

Still, there were perks to their arrangement, Cronus caught himself biting his lip at the thought of Maryam’s body pushed up against his own-

_Get a hold of yourself – god that’s just embarrassin- gotta play it cool…_

Not that she made _that_ easy for him.

To distract himself from anymore thoughts about a _certain rainbow-drinking bitch_ he snagged Porrim’s spare husktop from where she’d left it on a side table and settled himself on the sofa to watch more clips from what Roxy and Dirk had saved from the human internet– rather than just watch the same old recycled programs and films Sollux and Roxy had set up to play on televisions.

He passed a few hours watching music videos and found his old affinity for human culture stirring. _Literally no one will give you the time of day if you start that up again_. He thought with a grimace. Not that he’d wanted to talk about it anyway – but Meenah was always a ruthless one when it came to potentially humiliating information about him.

Before he could start mooning over the beautiful colours of human skin, or their lack of cumbersome horns a pesterchum alert popped up on the screen.

 _Maybe it’s –_ Nope. Don’t get your hopes up Ampora. It’s for Porrim, obviously.

However the notifications wouldn’t stop popping up so after a minute he decided he’s tell whoever it was to take a leap of a cliff-

TT: Cronus? Porrim told me you would most likely be using her spare “husktop” if I should have need to contact you.

TT: Which, as a matter of fact, I do.

TT: Mr Ampora, are you there? Loathe as I am to strike up a conversation with you it concerns Kankri and I thought that might be of some interest to you.

TT: Very well then, this isn’t my preferred method of doing this, but let’s crack out the “Egbert”, shall we?

TT: Cronus

TT: Cronus

TT: Cronus

TT: Cronus

TT : Fishface

CA : yes all right wvhat the fuck do you wvant?

CA: and no need to be racist wvat’s wvrong wvith you??

TT: As a matter of fact that last one was Porrim – she’s at Kanaya’s hive with me now.

CA: and wvhat does the ‘drinker-bitch wvant?

TT: Call me that again I dare yo+u.

TT: Actually no+ we do+n’t have time fo+r any bullshit.

TT: Lo+o+k I’m busy and I’ve go+t to+ go+ in a seco+nd, but can yo+u tell Kankri that Ho+russ and his dancesto+r think they can make him a new pair o+f hands easily, o+nce his wrists have healed eno+ugh.

CA: so they’re not on your list of suspects?

TT: O+h please if either o+f them had to+uched Kankri he’d have far mo+re bro+ken bo+nes do+n’t yo+u think?

 _Damn._ He hadn’t thought about that. He hated looking stupid in front of Porrim.

CA: wvell you know Horuss wvould do wvhatevwer Meenah asked him to – and he has those glovwes-

TT: Ho+russ has his… eccentricities… but do+ yo+u ho+nestly think he co+uld do+ so+mething like this?

TT: When has he ever hurt anyo+ne o+n purpo+se, o+r even expressed any wish to+ do+ so+?

TT: At any rate when the Zahaks co+me o+ver to+ fit the hands we’ll kno+w by Kankri’s reaction, wo+n’t we? And the fact that they o+ffered their help suggests their inno+cence. 

Well, shit. She had a point.

TT: Anyway please just tell Kankri that – o+h and tell him that Meulin’s o+ffered to+ teach him sign-language if no+thing can be do+ne fo+r his to+ngue.

TT: But maybe do+n’t say that last part – I do+n’t want to+ upset him and we do+n’t kno+w fo+r sure…

TT: Lo+o+k I have to+ go+, I’ll be o+ver to+mo+rro+w o+r the day after to+ discuss my case with yo+u

Her case? What was she - a fuckin legislacerator?

CA: okay, wvell, see you then

TT: Yes. Tell Kankri I ho+pe he’s feeling… better?

TT: No+ o+n seco+nd tho+ught just tell him I’m thinking o+f him and that I’ll see him so+o+n

TT:

TT: <3<

Cronus gaped at the screen for a moment before replying with clumsy fingers

CA: <3<

TT: She’s gone now, however I could convey your sentiments If you’d like?

CA: no – just-

CA: wvait wvhy am I talkin to you again– do you need to talk to me too or somethin?

TT: Unfortunately, yes.

TT: Porrim told me Kankri’s having terrible nightmares.

CA: yeah. I mean it’s to be expected I guess?

TT: I imagine he’ll have a form of post-traumatic stress disorder, yes.

CA: a form of..?

TT: Trust me. Anyway I think we’ve managed to alchemise a safe sleeping pill which I can send over to you, if you’d like?

CA: yes – I mean, obvwiously – wvhy wvouldn’t I wvant that?

TT: Yes, well, I’ll send it over in a moment. Is he having any other problems?

CA: You mean aside from the fact that someone tore out his tongue and he hasn’t got any fuckin hands?

Cronus realised with a start that he was _angry_ – why was she riling him up so much? Then it hit-

CA: howv have you managed to be so fuckin cool and collected this wvhole time? Evwen wvhen he wvas bleedin out in my fuckin arms you wvere just wvalkin around calm as ya like- almost as if-

TT: I’m not some emotionless ice-queen if that’s what you’re insinuating.

TT: Actually I found the whole scene very upsetting, but I’m good at keeping my head in emergencies.

TT: Moreover I resent what you were about to say. Something like “almost as if you knew what had happened”? Am I close? Why would I put so much effort into helping keep Kankri alive if I wanted him hurt so badly?

TT: Which for the record I did not.

CA: to deflect suspicion

He knew as he hit send that he should’ve kept that particular comment to himself, but he was too agitated to hold back.

TT: Cronus Ampora I am trying very hard to keep my tone civil so why don’t you address me with the same courtesy. Now. Is Kankri having any difficulties other than the fact that “someone tore out his tongue and he hasn’t got any fuckin hands” to quote you directly?

Cronus frowned at the screen. He was itching for a fight – anything to take his mind off the situation at hand – but Rose was too collected to be provoked. And he really shouldn’t be rubbing her up the wrong way since she was trying to help Kankri…

CA: he’s not eatin. an I think

CA: I think maybe the attacker mighta done somethin else to him as well

CA: i’m not sure

CA: but he wvas naked wvhen i found him

Cronus scrubbed at him face tiredly. He didn’t like thinking about it, but Kankri was so defensive (which was nothing new, really) but now it looked like he was two seconds from breaking, as opposed to two seconds from blazing fury.

Which could just be to do with the fact that someone (or some _ones_ ) mutilated him- but there was no way to find out for sure since they couldn’t _talk_ – not that Kankri would want to talk to _him_ about anything, he thought, grimacing.

CA: wve can’t communicate but i’m pretty sure it’s eatin him up inside

TT: I thought he might have been sexually assaulted in some way, yes.

Cronus winced a little. Seeing the words pulsing violet on his screen made it seem more real for some reason.

TT: And he will most likely need someone to talk to about his ordeal in the future – I’m afraid communication is something you have to figure out for now, at least until the Zahaks can sort out new hands for him.

TT: But eating is another matter, what have you been offering him?

CA: wvell soup – his tongue-

TT: And he refuses to eat it? Or it hurts him?

CA: he tries but it makes him sick

CA: like after a fewv spoonfuls he’ll literally go throwv up

TT: …

TT: It could well be the texture.

CA: wvhat?

TT: He spent a long time choking and spitting out his own blood and mutilated tongue.

TT: I’m not convinced that soup is the best option here.

CA: oh.

CA: oh fuck i didn’t think

TT: Will you consider removing me from your list of suspects now?

CA: real cute Lalonde

CA: but seriously wvhat do I givwe him then?

TT: Well he’s still got teeth, how about something easily chewable, that doesn’t resemble blood in any way?

CA: wvow, howv’d ya come up wvith somethin so breathtakin?

CA: actually I gotta go Kan needs me – savwe your wvitty comeback

CA:

CA: thanks for the advwice

 

 

 

After making sure Kankri was okay after the latest daymare, Cronus convinced him to come downstairs for a while and fixed a fishfinger sandwich for Kankri to nibble on hesitantly in between sips of water.

 “Is that… is this okay?” He asked, putting the sandwich down to offer Kankri the glass of water again.

Kankri nodded, looking at Cronus curiously

“We ran out of soup,” he lied with a shrug. “And you’re low on supplies – but I’ll cook you up something proper when I get my hands on some fresh fish.” He made a mental note to do something about the limited supplies in the nutritionblock.

Kankri snorted, then nodded at the sandwich. Cronus offered it again and waited until Kankri had got his bite before saying,

“The sweaty horse-lords think they can make you some new hands.”

Kankri fixed him with an unreadable look, chewing slowly.

“Once your wrists are healed enough,” he continued “and Meulin can teach you sign language if – I mean there’s probably something that can be done about your tongue-”

Shit. This was exactly what Porrim had told him _not to say._

Kankri swallowed and looked down at the stumps of his wrists.

“Kan?” Cronus swallowed, nervous that he’d upset him, “Porrim just thought you ought to know…”

Kankri looked up at him and gave him a tired half-smile. Cronus grinned in return – and even managed to get Kankri to come and watch a little television with him before he disappeared back upstairs.

Cronus spent the next day restlessly pacing around the house waiting for Porrim to come round and wishing he could go for a walk – or a swim – or do _anything_ that didn’t involve sitting waiting for someone to scream. The day was excruciating in its frustration – but also in its boredom, and eventually Cronus resigned himself to slumping in front of the television. Again.

He was just dozing off when a noise jerked him awake again – there was someone standing in the doorway.

He was just about to leap up so as not to look to so pathetic in front of Porrim, when he realised that it was _Kankri_. He’d actually come down to Cronus of his own volition. He looked from Cronus, to the television, and then perched gingerly on the far end of the sofa.

“You okay Kan? You want food – or a drink?” Cronus asked sleepily, checking out the corner of his eye that the television wasn’t showing anything too violent or sexual.

Kankri shook his head and they sat in silence watching a pan-numbing game show for a while. Cronus was just beginning to nod off when he became aware of a shift of weight and then Kankri was leaning up against him.

Cronus almost didn’t dare to move as Kankri lent his head on his shoulder, but risked shifting just enough to put an arm around his shoulder.

Kankri didn’t look at him, just nuzzled in a little closer and gave out the tiniest of sighs.

“I got you, you’re okay,” Cronus whispered, the words coming out automatically as he gently stroked Kankri’s arm, keeping his eyes fixed on the television.

Kankri let out a small, strangled sob that Cronus knew he would never be forgiven for acknowledging, and they sat curled together in a tentative facsimile of affection for a few hours, until Kankri got up stiffly and returned to his room.

Cronus watched him go, trying not to think too hard about the conflicting emotions swirling in his pan.

 

 

 

Porrim returned the day after, walking in to the kitchen where Cronus was making a sandwich, and unceremoniously pushing him up against the wall.

“I don’t know about you but I’m _starving,”_ she growled against his throat, reaching down to get a grip on his shirt.

“Uh – “ _hello”?_ ” he replied grabbing her wrists and looking at her incredulously.

“Oh because you’re one for formalities of course.”

“No, but for future reference you could at least say hi before going for my fucking throat,” he snarled back.

Porrim stopped any further protests with a deep kiss, and soon pushed a hand down between them to stroke him through his jeans.

“ _Jesus_. Fine.” He hissed, kissing her again and grinning as she jerked away from his teeth. “Just- just let me get the door - I think Kan’s asleep but I don’t wanna- _OW-!_ ”

Porrim had shoved his face into the wall to better expose his jugular.

“Porrim can I close the fucking door-?”

“No.”

“Porrim- _ow_ _oh for fucks sake-_ ” Cronus groaned as Porrim slammed him back again and then tore his shirt open.

“I would’ve taken it off if you’d _fuckin asked-_ ”

“I am so fucking thirsty Ampora.” She growled dangerously – and Cronus felt himself shiver as he got a proper look at her – she’d gone full ‘ _drinker_ with luminescent white skin and wild yellow eyes. And – was she? - she was actually _salivating_ as she stood panting before him.

Actually considering how strong and broad he was, Porrim really shouldn’t be able to throw him around like a ragdoll – _what was it they said about rainbowdrinkers-?_

The thought was cut off as she shrugged out of her dress to reveal a very distracting lack of underwear.

“Uh-”

“Oh just shut up,” she sighed, pulling him into a hard kiss by the fins – which stung, but Cronus couldn’t seem to care when he suddenly had hand one hand stroking over a pierced nipple and the other full of plush Maryam rump.

She flicked her tongue into his mouth and he shivered as he tasted the metal of the stud there. Really, it was embarrassing how quickly she could reduce him to a panting mess of a troll – he should really work on keeping his cool- _oh-_

Porrim pushed a thigh between his legs to rub right against his already aching nook and moaned into his mouth. The note of desperation, combined with the pressure against his crotch made his bulge start to unsheathe – and Porrim must have felt him through his jeans because she grinned ( _or was she just baring her teeth_?) and spun him with that disconcerting strength to bend him over the nutritionblock table.

“We fucking _eat_ here” he grumbled half-heartedly into the table as she reached around him to unzip his jeans and yank them down.

“I know.” She said, kicking his jeans and underwear away before leaning over him -pushing her warm body and cold piercings against him- and whispering in his ear, “And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Shivering as her warmth left his exposed body, Cronus was caught off guard as she used a still stiletto-heeled foot to slide his legs apart, and moaned loudly as she slid herself into him.

That moan was followed by a slightly less pleasured one as she leaned over him once more, grabbed a horn for leverage, and then sank her fangs into his neck, drinking deep as her bulge writhed lazily inside him.

Cronus tried to lose himself in the pulses of sweet sensation in his nook, but the pain in his neck was hard to ignore and when his vision started to blur he gasped out,

“Porr- ah – Porrim-”

“Shhh,” she whispered thickly against his neck, licking the blood from his gills, “I’m done.”

He heard the clang of the bucket being decaptchalougued between their legs and whined gratefully as Porrim stopped draining his blood and focused on the task at hand, reaching a hand down to stroke at his bulge and gripping his hip with the other as her stokes came faster and more urgent.

Cronus tried to rise off the table as the tension coiling in his stomach started to become too much, but she pushed his head back down and started to gasp and thrust in earnest herself.

They always seemed to come loudly and violently, and Cronus groaned as the last of the genetic material dripped from him.

He was left shivering and weak on the table, but Porrim helped him turn over and sit up, then kissed him softly on the forehead, cradling his head to her chest.

Cronus would have said something lewd but he was too exhausted.

“Sorry. I got a bit carried away – I –I was thirsty.” She said falteringly, idly stroking one of his horns.

“S’okay,” he managed.

She made a noise of disbelief, then, “Come on, I’ll help you to the ablutionblock.”

“No I’ve got it – you’re cleaning the fuckin’ nutritionblock.”

Porrim looked as if she might argue, then nodded, chagrined.

Cronus got up on shaky legs and grabbed the doorframe as the world spun a little.

“Cronus-”

“I’m fine.”

“Cronus please put something on before you go walking through Kankri’s hive.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

 

 

Half an hour later they sat at opposite ends of the sofa, and Porrim decaptchalogued a large notepad between them.

“Is this what you’ve been working on?”

She nodded.

“So, who’re we killing?”

“Killing?” she said, a note of disappointment in her voice.

“Oh – I didn’t say _slowly_ , now, did I?”

Porrim matched his wicked grin and opened the notebook.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The anthem for this chapter is the song "We ain't gonna die today" by Atmosphere.  
> Apologies for any spelling/ grammar mistakes - I find proofreading ridiculously hard and I wanted to get this chapter out.  
> Also I hate fish puns. I hate them.  
> Okay on with the show...

Porrim had gone to the humans first – Rose had obviously been with Kanaya the night of the attack; Jake and Jade had been playing fiduspawn with the younger Nitram; John and Dave had been having “bro time” since apparently Dave spent too much time with Karkat nowadays; and Roxy and Jade had been baking. That left Dirk, who had no alibi, and who, in Cronus’ mind, had started the whole fiasco in the first place.

“Honestly I’d say it was one of our lot – the alpha’s I mean – or…well, or Dirk Strider.” Porrim had said, flicking through her notes book and frowning. “Not that I’m ruling out any beta trolls – they’re much more used to violence on this scale – but the attack felt so _personal_ , like someone who’d known Kankri for sweeps and sweeps might do… Or someone who’d reached breaking point and snapped like Dirk did the other day.

“The humans seem to be less aggressive, or at least more adverse to atrocities like this, but I can’t get a read on Mr Strider. Not to mention the fact that the beta-universe version of him was some hyper aggressive madman who attacked Dave every day of his childhood, from what I’ve heard.”

Among the Alpha trolls the biggest suspect was Meenah – due to her actions the night of the attack – however so far Kurloz, Damara, Meulin and Aranea didn’t have alibis. Among the betas Vriska was a suspect, and she, Eridan, Gamzee and Feferi all lacked proof of where they’d been or what they’d been doing when Kankri was attacked.

“We’ll deal with Dirk, and then we can investigate further if he’s innocent.” Porrim had decided, which is why she and Cronus were now on their way to Dirk’s, while Rose quietly knitted in Kankri’s hive; there in case he needed anything.

“Does Rose know what we’re doing – I mean, isn’t Dirk her, her - what’s the term – human relative thing?” Cronus asked as they ran to the next transportaliser.

“She’s smart. She’ll figure it out.”

“So what you meant was ‘no Cronus, Rose doesn’t know what we’re doing’?”

She gave him a light slap on the arm and put a finger to her lips as they stepped onto the final transportaliser together. The day was grey and heavy, like all days on this strange barren planet, but for once Cronus appreciated the dim light and heavy atmosphere. It was… fitting.

When they stepped off the transportaliser plate they were on a large, dry plain with a strange metallic structure rising out of it – Dirk’s apartment was perched on top, towering above them like some great bird of prey hunched over its nest.

“Why’d the game put him all the way out here?” Cronus whispered,

“I don’t know, but if he’s looks out of the window anytime soon he’ll see us coming, so let’s be quick.”

Porrim had ditched her usual dress for a black jumpsuit and tied her mane of hair back in a bun – but kept her stiletto heels. Cronus felt a spike of jealousy for how easily she could run in them as they crossed the plain- but when they reached the metal structure that held up Dirk’s hive he had to pull her behind a metal beam to ask, “Can you climb in those?”

“Climb?”

“How else do you see us getting up there?”

Porrim blinked and looked around, the structure was made of thick steel beams, coated in rust most of the way up, and conspicuously lacking any easy way up.

“Oh. I thought there would be… stairs or something – how does _he_ get up there?”

“ _I think he climbs_.” Cronus hissed. “What were you even doing while I was watching Kan? – because I’m not impressed with your _research_ so far.”

 Porrim growled at him, but a jade blush rose in her cheeks.

“Okay, look,” Cronus said with a huff, “I’m pretty sure I can get us both up there – but that means you have to take the lead because I’m gunna need some time to get my breath back – okay?”

“Oh please, as if I was letting you take the lead anyway,” she said, rolling her eyes, “And this might not even get messy - we just need to talk to him first. Find out what he was doing that night… And if it _does_ get messy-“

She decaptchalogued two curved blades sharpened to perfection and smiled darkly, baring her fangs.

“No chainsaw?” Cronus asked.

“These are more… elegant. What have you got? Meenah broke your fancy gun didn’t she?”

“ _Ahab’s crosshairs_. And yes Meenah destroyed it,” he winced at the memory, “I’ve got a net, a trident, and my fists. You ready?”

Porrim nodded and Cronus braced himself as she jumped onto his back, wrapping her legs around his waist and hugging tight around his neck.

“ _Mind the gills_.”

“Sorry.” 

She adjusted her position, and when he was happy with it Cronus started to climb the metal frame, pulling them laboriously up one of the four main corner beams and using the large rivets rusted into the steel as hand and foot holds. Porrim was doing what she could to work with him – shifting her weight to mimic his movements, and keeping her limbs in close so as not to get in the way – but he was horribly aware of her weight pulling them back over an ever growing fall every time he reached up for the next handhold.

Half way up the skeletal structure Cronus’ arms were sore and his legs were screaming, but it felt so good to be doing something active, and as he felt Porrim’s ragged breath ghost across the back of his neck he let out a small breathless laugh.

“Do _not_ tell me you’re enjoying this,” she said in a tiny voice.

He opened his mouth to answer but she moaned and tightened her grip around his shoulders.

“No don’t speak – don’t laugh – please just keep climbing.”

The last hurdle was climbing up the wall of the apartment to reach the roof.

“Porrim,” Cronus called softly, clinging to the steel beam with aching thighs and burning arms, refusing to look down at the ground so far below.

“Shhhh,” she whispered, shaking.

“No listen, I’m not trying to mess with you, but I’ve got to do something now you’re not gunna like – so brace yourself and hang on tight.”

“No wait- Cronus- what are you-?”

Reaching up he caught hold of a window sill, then with herculean effort pulled his legs up to get his feet on the sill – and then pushed off, propelling them through the air just far enough for Cronus to grab the edge of the roof – and with a little scrabbling he dragged them both up.

Porrim picked herself up immediately and walked away from the edge of the roof to collect herself.

“Remind me to get you back for that little stunt later.”

“Hey how about ‘ _wow thank you Cronus for getting us over this obstacle I stupidly forgot to research, that was super impressive?_ ’” he mumbled from face down on the roof, then groaned as Porrim tugged him up.

Her eyes were wild and her breath was coming hard, but she seemed focused enough.

Cronus took a second to stretch his arms, reaching up and groaning as his limbs complained.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re all very impressed.” Porrim said, tugging his sweaty t-shirt back down over his taught stomach, “Stop posing – we’ve got work to do. He probably knows we’re here by now.”

“Yeah probably.” Dirk drawled, slamming the door to the roof behind him, and making the trolls whip round, startled, “Now what the fuck are you doing here? I mean I’ve got a pretty good idea but why don’t you explain yourselves.”

Dirk stood in a defensive stance, a long sword held perfectly still in one hand, his glasses making his expression unreadable.

“That’s an awfully sharp sword you’ve got there Dirk,” Porrim said dangerously, flicking her skin to luminous. Cronus followed her lead and dropped into a fighting stance.

“It’s a katana. I’m _awfully_ good with it too. Ask me what you want to ask me, then leave.”

“Are you always this defensive?” Porrim purred, taking a few measured steps towards him.

“Since there’s a psychopath going round lopping people’s hands off I feel like being defensive ain’t the strangest thing I could be doing. Now spit it out.”

“Alright,” Cronus said darkly, “We think you could’ve attacked Kankri. Wanna tell us what you were doing that night?”

Dirk’s face was stony blank, but his voice was ragged as he flashstepped past,

“ _Is that what you think of me?”_

Cronus just got his trident decaptchalogued and raised in time to stop Dirk’s katana taking off a fin.

“I’m curious,” Dirk ground out, straining to force the katana down against the trident, “we’ve barely spoken – what exactly is it about me that screams ‘sadistic torturing maniac’?”

Porrim spun and got a knife to his throat but he moved again, too fast for them to follow, and stopped atop the air-conditioning unit.

“You made a very verbal announcement of hatred for Kankri, were visibly amused when he was shouted down, and suggested a one-on-one fight.” Porrim called up, her yellow eyes flashing.

“ _And_ you’re a nutter with a sword – and probably the only human capable of something like this based on what we’ve heard about you – and your alternates.” Cronus added, decaptchloguing his net into his left hand and slowly twirling the trident in his right.

Dirk blurred again, but this time they were ready.

Adapting quickly to the flashsteps of their opponent Cronus began to stab his trident out at where he thought Dirk would attack next, and the rooftop became a whirl of blades and bodies. Dirk began to see their strategy and attacked from unexpected angles to compensate – which lead to both Cronus and Porrim sustaining long cuts from the katana. However Dirk was outnumbered by a highblood and a rainbow drinker who outmatched him in strength, and didn’t tire as opponents facing his flashstep usually would.

Not only that but his stoic veneer was cracking, his face was flushed and his voice raw as he yelled out, “Just fuck off! He pissed me off I didn’t want him dead or- or – _fuck_! I didn’t do it!”

He came back into focus long enough to bring his sword down hard to crash against Porrim’s knives, turning his back on Cronus who used the opportunity to cast his net and tug Dirk back hard so he crashed into the concrete of the roof, slaming his head hard into the concrete.

Dirk struggled weakly under the think cords of the net, his glasses skewed to reveal amber eyes wide with panic.

Cronus kept the net tight against the roof and Porrim advanced slowly, the blades of her knives reflecting the light of her skin.

She crouched down slowly and spoke in a low voice.

“So. You don’t have an alibi, but your defence is that… you’re a good person? Simple. I like it.” She reached through the cords of the net and tugged his glasses off his face.

“I never said that. I just got fed up of the guy talking incessantly with that fucking holier-than-thou tone like he was our very own personal Jesus Christ.” He choked out, gritting his teeth against the pain of his head and the cords of the net biting into his skin, “Sure maybe I wanted to punch him – but I never laid a hand on him and _I didn’t do this_.

“But you don’t believe me,” he finished woodenly, “So what can I do to stop you chopping _my_ hands off, or whatever it is you’re planning on doing?”

Porrim paused then as if to think – when there was a chime from the glasses in her hand.

She glanced at the lenses.

“Your friend Roxy is here, she’s asking you to… _send down the board?_ What does she mean?”

“My skateboard. To get up here. It flies.”

Porrim spared a moment to share an exasperated look with Cronus.

“Please let her come up.” Dirk said quietly, refusing to lift his eyes from the gravel pressing into his face.

“Why?”

“Because she knows me maybe better than anyone else on this godforsaken planet,” he spat, “And since I’ve clearly made an awful first impression with you, maybe she could convince you that I wouldn’t do something so fucked up to someone.”

“Didn’t one of your alternates try and rip the soul out of Aranea?” Porrim asked lightly.

“Please let her come up.” Dirk whispered, apparently exhausted.

 

 

The first thing Roxy did when she climbed off the board was kick Cronus full in the chest and rip the net off of Dirk.

“You think he hurt Kankri, don’t you – that’s why you’re here?” She decaptchlogued a rifle and stood in front of where Dirk sat cradling his head.

Porrim nodded, backing off cautiously but not yet lowering her knife.

“Being attacked when we arrived didn’t really help convince us of his innocence.” Cronus coughed, picking himself up from where Roxy had wiped him out, and carefully distancing himself from Porrim so Roxy would have two targets to deal with if it came to that.

“You came _armed_ to his house-” Roxy began hotly, slapping Dirk’s arm away and hushing him when he tried to talk.

“You know, Dirk thought people might think this – after he shouted at Kankri the other night,” Roxy went on, shaking with anger, ”why didn’t you just _ask me_ – or another one of his friends - when you came round to investigate?”

“Because I wasn’t aware you knew everything about him and what he’s capable of,” Porrim said archly.  

“Well I do, _actually_ ,” Roxy’s voice was high and tight with emotion, “And he was messaging us the whole time I was baking with Jane. Telling us about his new robo-project with the troll horse guys. I’ll show you the chatlogs if it’ll make you go away!”

“And he couldn’t have been messaging and attacking at the same time?” Cronus prompted, sharing a wary look with Porrim.

“ _Do you really think that’s what he was doing?_ ” the hysteria in her voice now was unmistakeable.

There was a long pause in which Dirk stood gingerly and coaxed the rifle out of Roxy’s hands with a muttered, “It’s okay Rox, I’m okay.”

“Okay.” Porrim repeated quietly, throwing the glasses back to Dirk, who caught them one handed and immediately jammed them back over his eyes. “Okay, we’re going, sorry to have troubled you Dirk – but what happened to Kankri was monstrous and we’re going to do what it takes to find and punish whoever is guilty.”

“Next time don’t act so suspiciously when confronted.” Cronus offered as he and Porrim prepared to descend.

“Yeah how about next time don’t act so suspicious when confronting someone.” Dirk spat back, gripping Roxy’s arm around him like a lifeline, “Now get the fuck off’f my house.”

 

 

They cleaned up and tended their wounds at Porrim’s hive, so it was late when then got back to Kankri’s. To their surprise Kankri was sat up with Rose, watching a human documentary about wildlife on the old earth.

“Hi,” Cronus called from the doorway and Rose looked up sharply.

“… _Hi_. Kankri, please think about what I’ve said okay? I really must be off now.” She patted Kankri on the shoulder and he nodded goodbye. Cronus was just about to ask what she’d been saying when Rose shoved him back out of the door and into Porrim.

“Oh- Rose, now before you-” Porrim began, but Rose cut her off.

“Next time you use me as a babysitter, can you warn me in advance if you’re going to go attack a psychologically vulnerable family member and accuse him of mutilation and assault?”

Her voice was calm, but her eyes burned with an intensity that made Cronus look away, perturbed.

“I’m sorry we misled you, but we have a list of suspects to get through, and we can’t have them warned in advance,” Porrim began, only to be cut off once more.

“I appreciate that – but you have to do your research before you go running off to attack people. I know that you’re angry and hurting and that the attack can’t leave your mind when you see Kankri and how he’s suffering every day – but if you knew the first thing about Dirk you’d know that he suffers from depression and hates himself and is hyper aware about what people are thinking about him and-“ Rose broke off, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Roxy and Jane are with him now, so I hope he’ll be okay – but Roxy tells me he had some sort of break down when you left. He blames himself – he thinks his actions encouraged or inspired the attack.”

“Oh.” Cronus managed.

“Yes. Well. The damage is done – just bear this in mind as you go after your next suspects.” Rose said tiredly, “Oh and Kankri hasn’t eaten all day so you should do something about that. Goodbye.”

“See you later,” Porrim called softly.

“…Are we arseholes?” Cronus hissed quietly as he followed her into the nutritionblock where she started preparing a dinner for the three of them.

She snorted, “You’re always an arsehole. We made a mistake, but we’re on a quest for justice.”

“You sound like the little Pyrope.”

“And you sound like a flake,” she said lightly, fixing him with an intense glare, “You _are_ still in, aren’t you?”

“Of course.” He was offended she even had to check.

“Good, well next let’s move onto alpha troll prime suspects – which would be Meenah – because, let’s face it, she hates Kankri – and Damara – because she's known for a tendency to take incredible revenge… however, perhaps we _should_ take Rose’s advice.”

“Meaning?”

“Well tomorrow how about I go talk to Damara and you go have a friendly chat with Ms Peixes – once we find out what they were doing that night we can go from there.”

Cronus nodded in agreement, keeping to himself the private doubt that Meenah would even let him into her hive, let alone have a “friendly chat” with him.

 

Porrim made a big vat of some kind of stew with vegetables and chunks of cluckbeast that she had to keep slapping Cronus away from - as he tried to steal spoonfuls as she cooked. When it was done they ate theirs first at the nutritionblock table, and Cronus almost inhaled it, slurping and chewing ravenously.

“Ugh.” Porrim made a noise of disgust and he looked up in time to see her wrinkle her nose.

“What? I’m hungry.” He said, mouth full – done on purpose to watch her wince again. Swallowing he added, “Also don’t be a hypocrite – have you seen the state of my fucking neck recently? You’re the messier eater here.”

“I don’t know the etiquette for rainbow-drinker mealtimes,” she said with a shrug, taking an obnoxiously delicate bite, “But my lusus taught me enough to know that when sat at a table it’s polite to not shove your face into your dinner like an oinkbeast at a trough.”

Cronus was tempted to lick his plate when he was done just to needle her some more, but the buzz from the television made him remember Kankri’s empty stomach – so he hurried in with a bowlful of stew.

Kankri refused to move from the sofa, engaged as he was with the documentary, but after some negotiations he sat in front of Cronus on the sofa so he could be fed and watch the documentary at the same time.

Cronus felt a twinge of unease when he remembered the circumstances of the last time they’d sat like this, but after Kankri had eaten and made no move to pull away from Cronus’ loose hold he began to feel strangely comforted by Kankri’s warmth against his stomach - and when Porrim came to curl up with them on the sofa, and dug her toenails into his thigh that was somehow comforting too.

Kankri eventually fell asleep with his head lolling against Cronus shoulder and Porrim waved a hand in front of his face a few times to make sure he was out before leaning in to whisper,

“Can I trouble you for a bite Ampora?”

Cronus shivered as her hot breath tickled his fins, and cursed Porrim for breaking the warm, comfortable atmosphere by reminding him of the deep ache in his neck and the still-healing wounds there.

“If I move Kan know he’ll wake up and he _just_ got to sleep,” he tried – but seeing the look in her eye he sighed and muttered, “Look can I have one more day to heal? My neck’s killing me.”

Porrim pouted and shifted position to better display her cleavage. Cronus hated it when she went all _femme fatale_ on him – because he was a sucker for it and _she knew that_.

Focusing down on Kankri’s tousled hair and nubby horns instead, he muttered, “You must have other people willing to let you take their blood – who were you drinking before me? Can’t you go bug them if you’re that thirsty?”

She nipped at one fin lightly, then pressed a kiss to it.

“Fine. My diet’s been too rich lately anyway.” She stood up to go, and Cronus flashed her a shark-like grin.

“Cheers babe.”

“Don’t _babe_ me,” she spat back and Cronus grinned wider at the unadulterated disgust in her voice.

He watched her go, then shifted Kankri lightly so he could rest his chin between Kankri’s nubby horns. He barely noticed the contended purr rising in his chest as he lost himself in the documentary, Kankri sleeping on secure in his arms.

 

 

The next day Cronus found himself swimming down to Meenah’s hive, while Porrim watched Kankri. Half of him was looking forward to seeing Meenah, while the other half was already dreading the verbal abuse she was bound to fling his way at the slightest misstep. And he made a lot of those.

Despite his apprehension the salt water flowing through his gills felt delicious, and he couldn’t even bring himself to care that his hair would be _ruined_ later.

When he reached the underwater palace he sent Meenah a message on pesterchum – she might ignore it if she saw it was from him, but she always had her clam-phone on her and he knew she checked it reflexively when it sounded.

Thirty seconds later she pulled open her door against the heavy volume of water.

“What the glub do you want?” she said, one eyebrow raised archly, her hair unbraided for once and floating around her in a thick black cloud like the grasping tentacles of Gl’bgolyb.

“Just wanted to ask a few questions – nothing fishy.”

She scowled. “Was that a _pun_ Ampora? You know you’re still banned from those.”

He floundered (oops) for a moment, but she sighed and waved him in.

“This is aboat Kankri. I get it. Come in – since you’re here you can make yourshelf useful and help me do my hair.”

They swam down a long corridor that was decorated unironically with shellfies of Meenah in various poses, and arrived in her respiteblock.

“Over here.” She settled herself in front of a giant vanity table and pushed a pearl-encrusted comb into his hands. “Two braids, like alwaves.”

“Surprised you’re giving me the time of night.” Cronus admitted as he sectioned off one half of her hair and began carefully untangling the other.

“You’re good with hair and dealing with all this makes my arm mussels ache,” she said with a shrug. Seeing his sceptical look she blew a string of bubbles out her mouth, “Oh okay and maybe I know that you’re eeling upset aboat Kankri – and that Ms Maryam might just tear your throat out if you’re shrimpudent.” The last bit was said with an amused smirk.

“What do you know about that?”

“I know that she was bugging Aranea for blood last night because her fishmesis is too dainty to take the wear and tear that comes from having a rainbow-drinker as a quadmate.”

“I don’t – I-” Cronus choked on the accusation, then came back lamely with, “It’s nothing official yet.”

“Pssh don’t worry that ship’s in the bag, she hakes you – naut that it’s hard to hake you,” She added and Cronus only just managed to stop himself from pouting.

“Talking about hating people-“

“Kankri is glubbin annoying and you know it.” She said immediately, then, softer, “But I don’t _hake_ him – I haven’t even had to put up with him for that long compared to the rest of you.”

Cronus focused on twisting strands of slimy hair into a neat braid and fought down the images of Kankri choking on his own blood, of Kankri screaming wordlessly in the night, of Kankri warm and content to curl up against his chest-

_Put up with him?_

He couldn’t quite connect the reasons why Meenah’s words twisted like a knife in his gut, but he suddenly felt a rush of shame that a part of him still wanted her so much.

“I’m not saying you hate him like that,” he said carefully, “but we both know what happened to Kankri isn’t something that happens between kismesis. You don’t fucking mutilate someone you’re in spades with – because then they’re no longer your equal, and once it’s not equal it’s not a kismesisitude...”

“Get to the point, Cronus,” she said, rolling her eyes, “You think I hake him platonically enough to – that I haddock somefin to do with his attack, like with Dirk the other day?”

Cronus blinked, “What do you know aboat – sorry- _about_ that?”

She laughed, “Unlike you, I have fronds that actshoally want to talk to me. News travels fast on this planet and news of your craysea vendetta is more entertaining than just sitting around waiting for the game to crayate a new universe.

“Now. What makes you think I’d be one to hack up Kankri just for the halibut?”

“Well you did kill us all-”

“ _Saved us all_.”

“And you slammed his head into a wall and laughed about it in front of everyone-”

“ _Doin him a favour, stopping him making more of a doofish out of himshelf_.”

“And you don’t seem overly concerned about his state now-”

“ _We’ve estab-fished I don’t like the buoy_.”

“And you wouldn’t tell Porrim where you were the night he was attacked.” Cronus finished in a growl, trying –and failing miserably – to not let her get to him.

“Because it’s none of that beach’s business.” There was a long pause in which Cronus finished one braid and moved onto the other.

“You know I’ll krill you both if you come for me.” She said quietly, _menacingly_ , as he tied off the second braid.

Cronus froze. Was this a confession?

Seeing his face she laughed scornfully, “Look I don’t give two ships aboat Kankri – which _shoald_ conchvince you that I wouldn’t take the time and effort to mess him up like that – but if you’re still unconchvinced, I spent the whale evening with Aranea’s dancestor. Ask her if you don’t bereef me.”

Cronus left Meenah’s feeling troubled. Meenah wouldn’t tell him what she’d been doing with Vriska – or where they’d been- and she’d left him with a flippant, “If you act like a basshole you’re _gunna_ end up with anemonies, anymoby could tell you that.”

Her callousness had rubbed him up the wrong way – but did Cronus really think Meenah would do something like this?

The answer that he kept arriving at was _I don’t know_.

What he _did_ know is that she was more than _capable_ of such an act – and the fact that she’d been with Vriska only worsened his suspicions. The younger Serket had killed and mutilated people left-right-and-centre from what he’d heard – people that she’d considered her friends. Not only that but she had the Serket mind-control powers, so if she _was_ involved with this she wouldn’t go down easily… Cronus didn’t know about Porrim but he knew _he_ was susceptible to mind-control – and that Vriska had messed with enough of his alternates in dream-bubbles to make him hesitant about taking her on without some kind of back-up or fail-safe measure…

He’d have to discuss it with Porrim later, for now he had to get back so she could go visit Damara – and so that Kankri wasn’t alone when the Zahaks came over to fit his new hands.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation continues, and things are looking up for Kankri - but something is terribly wrong with Porrim and Cronus will bear the brunt of it before long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies to both Cronus Ampora and Jane Crocker for their treatment in this chapter.  
> Also sorry for the wait - in between the last chapter and this one I moved countries!  
> I will continue to try get a chapter out a week - in the meantime feel free to come talk to me if you want on tumblr at thefastestclockintheuniverse (dot tumblr dot com!) xx

 

Cronus was still dripping seawater when he arrived back at Kankri’s hive, so he went for the back door into the nutritionblock instead of traipsing through Kankri’s hall and living room – Kankri couldn’t _say_ anything at the moment – but he could still glare with enough fire in his eyes to make Cronus feel guilty.

“Nice hair Ampora,” He jumped at the voice – Porrim was standing behind the counter with a tight little smile on her face.

Cronus ran his finger through his damp - and now curly – hair, and would have snarled something in response but was taken aback by how… frazzled she looked. Normally collected and glamourous at all times, her hair was tangled and matted and a light sheen of sweat coated her face – which flicked from troll grey to ‘Drinker luminescent seemingly uncontrollably.

“Are you-?” he began – but at that moment Kankri walked into the kitchen to stand in front of him and behind him Porrim put a shaking finger to her lips.

Cronus controlled his perturbed expression and put on a smile that he thought was only slightly strained.

“Hey Kan, looking forward to getting your new hands?”

Kankri nodded, then leant in to nudge his horns into Cronus’ chest.

“I’m still a bit damp there Kan, you sure?”

Kankri nudged again and Cronus obligingly drew him into a rough hug.

Porrim splashed her face with water from the sink, then swept past, “I’m off to talk to Damara, we can talk about our findings later- oh and you might want to shower before the Zahaks show up – you smell particularly fishy today.”

“You love it.” He laughed at her disgusted face then added a “See you later,” as she left.

Cronus paused for a second, resting his chin on Kankri’s head – it was almost funny, that Kankri had become so touchy-feely now that… he had no…

On second thought it wasn’t funny at all and Cronus winced. At least he hadn’t said it out loud – despite millions of sweeps as a ghost in dreambubbles he was only now being forced to finally start censoring himself, and it wasn’t an easy change to make overnight.

“Hey Kan?” he didn’t break the hug and Kankri just grunted in reply.

“Kan… you know me and Porrim wouldn’t have to go running all over the shop if you’d just tell us-”

Kankri jerked away, eyes flashing angrily – _fearfully_ -

“What are you worried about Kan?” Cronus reached for him again but Kankri stepped back smartly, “Look there aren’t gunna be any repercussions - we’re gunna _destroy_ whoever-“

But Kankri’s walls were back up and he stared at Cronus coldly before absconding to his bedroom.

He re-emerged only when the Zahaks arrived, Nepeta in tow, and sat quietly on the edge of the sofa while Equius and Horuss set up their equipment. Kankri’s hive wasn’t small, but the presence of the two hulking Zahaks made the room feel much smaller than it was. Cronus watched on uncomfortably while Kankri winced at the injections of what Rose had assured them was a safe local anaesthetic into his forearms, but when Horuss hunched down to sit at Kankri’s feet and begin exposing what nerves Kankri had left in his wrists Cronus had to duck out to the nutritionblock to escape the claustrophobic atmosphere.

Nepeta followed him and jumped up to perch on the countertop.

“Don’t worry – they know what they’re doing.” She said brightly, smirking at Cronus’ pale face and the way his fins flapped in agitation around it.

“Yeah know it’s just – I think I’ve seen enough of Kankri’s blood to last a lifetime.” Cronus got himself a glass of water for something to do that wasn’t worrying about what was happening in the next room, “Do they _have_ to do it like that – I thought they could just, like, stick the hands on…”

Nepeta didn’t laugh at his ignorance, instead she pulled a face,

“If he just wanted hands that _looked_ like hands – but didn’t function – then, yeah, Equius could’ve mocked something up in no time and attached them, but then he’d still be almost completely dependent on others for… well… for the rest of his life – and Porrim made it clear that he’d hate that.” Cronus grimaced, _true_. “This way they attach, uh, wires in the hands to the nerves in Kankri’s wrists and his brain can send signals to them like his old hands and move all the fingers and everything…” she trailed off, unsure.

“Equius explained it to me but a lot of it went ofur my head.” She admitted with a shrug. “Basically they’ll function just as his old hands did – Kanaya made some nice skin colour gloves to sip over them so they’ll look natural – _and_ they’re waterproof - but obviously he won’t feel with his hands anymore.”

She paused and looked steadily at Cronus,

“So… after the argument… what happened was - someone came and chopped his hands and tongue off?”

“Yeah. And… some other stuff. Me and Porrim are finding out who it was.”

He offered her a glass of water but she waved it away.

“Oh yeah Porrim was round the other day – me Terezi and Fefurry were rp-ing that night so she took us of the suspects list… although I think Fefurry upset her a bit…”

“How?”

“Oh she made a joke… I don’t think she realised that in was in paw taste,” Nepeta flushed, “She’s really a wonderful purrson – but sometimes she doesn’t think befur she speaks…”

“What did she – you know what, don’t tell me.”

“All I’ll say is that the phrase “’armless” was tossed around too lightly for Porrim’s taste.” Cronus looked at her, appalled, and she nodded, clearly ashamed of her – what? – matesprit? He found he didn’t care as much as he might have.

“So,” she said carefully, “what about the other beta trolls – which of us do you suspect?”

“Well,” he started to count them off on his fingers, “baby Nitram was playing Fiduspawn with Jade and Jake; you Feferi and Terezi were rp-ing as you say; Kanaya was with Rose – although she, Sollux and Karkat aren’t suspects as they came to help… But anyway Karkat was watching some shitty movie to give Dave and John “bro time”; and Sollux was programming while Aradia fell asleep in his hive – so she’s out too.” He paused to check who that left, “The ones without alibis are Gamzee, Eridan and Vriska… and we’re working on that”

Nepeta wrinkled her nose, “Yeah I’m not going to lie they’re all nasty pieces of work – good luck with your investigation – wait – what about Equius?”

“Well yeah I mean I immediately jumped to the freaky muscle perv but Porrim ruled it out – and Kan’s chill with him- _OW!_ ”

“ _You don’t get to talk about Equius like that_ ”.

“Alright, _jeez_.”

When they returned to the living room if Kankri or the Zahaks wondered why Cronus had three long scratches down the side of his face, they didn’t ask. Horuss was concentrating hard on the hand he was attaching to Kankri’s right wrist and Equius was tinkering – carefully – with the left one.

Kankri looked uncomfortable, with the skin peeled back from his numb wrists as Horuss connected the wires, but when Cronus asked if he wanted to take a break he shook his head resolutely.

“Well, can we at least make it so you don’t have to look at what’s happening?”

“We did have a guard to cover the wrists but he wanted to look.” Horuss said, wiping his brow with the back of his sleeve, and nodding at Kankri to make sure he’d understood correctly.

Kankri nodded back and Cronus shrugged.

“Okay, whatever, how long is this going to take?”

“We need maybe another half hour to get them attached, then we’ll have to get Kankri to do some calibration exercises to ensure they’re functioning properly.” Equius said, finishing whatever he was doing with the left hand. “It’s almost lucky so many of my teammates needed prosthetics – I’ve had a lot of practise…”

He trailed off suddenly and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry that was terribly insensitive of me – I didn’t-”

“It’s okay Equius, we know what you meant,” Nepeta said, leaping – _actually leaping_ \- onto his back and hugging him – glaring at Cronus over his shoulder.

“Yes, well, my apologies,” Equius muttered, carefully lifting Nepeta down and adjusting his glasses.

“Actually I’ve finished adjusting this one, do you mind if me and Nepeta..?”

“No I’m good here,” Horuss waved his dancestor away with a gloved hand, “tell Dirk I said hello- and don’t continue the project without me.”

“Of course not. Well, I hope the hands work out for you Kankri – and Cronus,” he added with a wry half-smile, “I’d disinfect those scratches. She doesn’t clean those claws very often.”

 

 

Half an hour of – for Cronus at least – nauseating work later, Horuss carefully stitched and bandaged Kankri’s wrists and started to get him to perform simple movements with the newly attached hands.

“Okay now can you touch your index finger to your thumb? Good. And with the left one?” Horuss spoke in a soft, polite tone and Kankri seemed happy in his presence, so when Porrim burst through the door exuding fury Cronus didn’t feel bad leaving him in the Zahak’s care as he pushed her back into the hall.

“What the hell’s up with you – ? did Damara do it – or?”

“No she didn’t do it she’s got a solid alibi.” Porrim hissed back, but the anger in her voice was plain and she was glowing again, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“Then why are you so fucking worked up?”

“ _Because she-_ ” Porrim controlled herself enough to stop snarling, and continued sullenly, “Because she wouldn’t let me take any blood.”

“Why were you asking that while investigating?” Cronus said, baffled – hadn’t she just taken blood from Aranea the other night?

“Does it matter – is- is it any of your fucking business?” she stuttered, but managed a look of defiance, lowering her horns ever so slightly.

“Yeah it _is_ \- because we’re doing this fucking mission – or whatever you wanna call it - _together_ and you have to tell me if- if- look what was Damara up to?” he had grabbed her shoulders unconsciously and she was shaking with – what? – rage?

“Rufioh!” Porrim yelled, shoving him hard in the chest and wiping her face distractedly, “Damara didn’t do it because she was _doing Rufioh at the time_ – now get out of my face, the pulse in your neck is very distracting.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” a deep voice came from the doorway and they turned to see Horuss, wringing his hands and grimacing. “But did you – did you just say that Rufioh was… was with Damara that night?”

Porrim face fell, “Oh. Oh Horuss I’m sorry I didn’t think – I…”

She trailed off looking at his pained expression.

“You… didn’t know.” It wasn’t a question.

“No. Ah. Do you think – could I perhaps call my moirail over? I don’t – I know perhaps it’s been a little crowded today?”

“No it’s okay,” she said quickly, “She said she wanted to teach Kankri some signs anyway so – yes please, go ahead.”

“Thanks.” He smiled but the pain in his eyes was apparent, and he was clenching his fists hard as he retreated to make the call.

Porrim and Cronus looked at each other.

“Poor guy.” Cronus said with a grimace.

“Yes.” Porrim deflated a little and wiped her face again, “Look, I’m sorry I burst in like that I’m – I’m not feeling well so I’m going to go home and sort myself out – I’ll be back later, okay? Maybe ask Meulin if she knows where Kurloz was on attack-night, when she arrives – I haven’t been able to get a clear answer out of him – and message me what Meenah said to you!”

 

 

After Horuss had spoken to Meulin outside (and punched a skeletal tree in half that he apologised and offered to alchemise a replacement for) he left.

“He did well though – you say he didn’t shout or anything!?” Meulin said in the doorway of the hive.

“Yeah he just pulled a face and stood like a sweaty statue at the door until you arrived.” Cronus replied, making sure to enunciate his words properly so she could read his lips.

“Well that’s good. I mean, I’m fairly new to this moirail business, but I think it’s much better that he doesn’t get all angry and shouty – it’s good that he’s learning to control himself!”

“Uh, yeah – look I think Kan’s tired but since you’re here d’you wanna show him the basics?”

“Sure – it’ll be fun!!”

She turned to join Kankri in the living room when Cronus caught her arm.

“Hey – hey sorry no funny business I just needed your attention,” he pulled his hand back and she stopped baring her teeth – he’d had enough Leijon-inflicted wounds for one day, “look – do you know where Kurloz was that night it, uh, happened to Kan?”

She blinked for a moment as if confused – and Cronus was about to ask again, slower, when she brightened, and said, “Of course! He was with me all that night!!”

 

 

When Porrim returned Kankri was in bed and Cronus was trying to fend off a vitriolic attack from Jane Crocker over pesterchum.

GG: … if you wanted help with an investigation you should have asked me, instead of attacking my friends based on a hunch! Are you out of your mind??

GG: Is that the plan – just throw wild accusations at the wall and see what sticks??

Cronus sighed – sure, maybe he and Porrim had gone off a little half –cocked, but it’s hard to be reasonable when someone attacks your – your – Kankri.

He paused, wondering why calling Kankri his friend was causing him so much trouble, when Porrim returned and folded herself onto the sofa beside him.

“Feeling better?” she looked composed once more – he started to wonder what had been wrong when she cut him off,

“How’s Kankri?”

“Excited with his new hands but exhausted from having people around him all day.” He said with a shrug.

“What has Meulin taught him so far?” her words were sharp as if she was angry about something… _probably got into an argument with one of her exes_ …

“We learned “hello”, “thank you”, “sorry” and the alphabet – oh and “who”, “what”, “why”, “when”, “where”, “how” … and a few others I don’t remember…” Cronus tried to sign along as he spoke, but he’d have to double-check the flashcards Meulin had left.

“ _We_?”

Cronus look at her in disbelief, “Well if we don’t learn the fucking signs Kankri can only talk to Meulin. Use your brain- you’re meant to be smart-”

She elbowed him – harder than he thought he deserved, then wiped a hand down her face and breathed out shakily.

Cronus eyed her critically then – she’d done that exact gesture earlier – so maybe she wasn’t angry but still ill…

“Have you sorted out your – whatever was going on earlier?”

She ignored him pointedly and pulled out her notepad, “We need to go after Vriska. I read your message about what Meenah said – she’s right, we can’t take her in a fair fight, but if we take Vriska as a hostage we should get some solid answers out of her about what they were up to that night. Vriska’s telepathic abilities will be a big problem but I’ve found us an ally who should take care of that.”

“An ally… you mean Aranea?” Cronus pulled a face – Aranea didn’t like him. Well nobody really liked him, but apparently he pissed off Aranea in particular.

“Aranea is a good friend of mine and she says she’ll help – she can cancel out Vriska’s abilities and we can get an actual response out of Vriska and Meenah – because Meenah says they were together - but they’re both violent, callous, and dislike Kankri so I’m not ready to accept her dismissal of guilt quite yet.”

Cronus nodded, “Yeah, I followed all that, but Aranea doesn’t have an alibi either – we don’t know what she was doing that evening- and, let’s face it, she can talk as long and loud as Kankri but that doesn’t make them friends.”

“She told me she was reading that evening and I know her – I trust her – and anyway I’m sure she’d find an attack like this distasteful and – _oh for fuck’s sake what is that noise_?”

The whole time they had been talking Cronus’ pesterchum alert hadn’t stopped sounding as Jane continued to furiously send messages.

“It’s Jane – the human who was the Condesce’s heir- she doesn’t approve of what we’re doing, apparently.”

Porrim rolled her eyes – “Give it here, I’ll get rid of her.”

Cronus leaned back into the sofa drowsily and watched Porrim as she typed. She seemed more in control than earlier, but still she was glowing faintly and- and were her fangs bigger than usual? She was biting her lower lip hard enough to draw beads of dark jade blood as she typed and when she noticed and wiped the smear of blood away she shuddered, her eyes flashing yellow.

After a minute Cronus registered how hard she was jabbing the keys and how hard her breath was coming as she wrote -

“You writing a novel there?” he asked lightly, pulling the husktop back to read what she had sent.

What he found was a stream of obscenity that had apparently left Jane Crocker wordless.

CA: … I do+n’t think it’s any o+f yo+ur fucking business what we do+ so+ ho+w abo+ut you get yo+ur fucking no+se o+ut o+f o+ur business

CA: and I do+n’t kno+w why yo+u’re so+ o+ffended abo+ut us go+ing after Dirk, if yo+ur’re go+ing to+ be a mo+o+dy assho+le who+ threatens peo+ple in public then yo+u deserve the suspicio+n that falls o+n yo+u

 CA: I suggest yo+u keep o+ut o+f o+ur way if yo+u know what’s fucking go+o+d fo+r yo+u – who+ do+ yo+u think yo+u are anyway to+ talk to us that way. Yo+u are no+thing but a little wriggler and just because yo+u were the co+ndesce’s heir do+esn’t give yo+u any autho+rity o+n this planet

CA: yo+u are the least interesting little speck o+f insignificant no+thing I have ever enco+ntered…

It went on and on, getting uncomfortably personal and ever more threatening. Cronus scrolled to the end and then looked at Porrim aghast.

“What are you trying to do? Turn all the human’s against us? We’re trying to get revenge for Kankri – not start a fucking war.”

Porrim didn’t answer, just ground her teeth and gripped the sofa’s arm hard enough to rip the fabric.

Cronus huffed and signed off,

CA: hey sorry, Porrim is under a lot of stress here and she’s a bit ill, too

CA: she really didn’t mean all that

CA: Jane?

CA: all right wvell don’t take any of that personally

He frowned at the screen, then added,

CA: wve’re sorry if wve upset you wvith our actions. Wve wvon’t be botherin any more of your group.

CA: But wve’re not stopping, either, wve’re not letting the attacker go unpunished

Snapping the husktop shut Cronus turned to Porrim.

“Seriously, what the fuck is up with you today?”

Porrim looked up then, and the gaze she turned on Cronus could only be described as predatory.

When she spoke her voice was low and thick – coming clumsily around her fangs, which had grown down over her lower lip.

“Cronus… I am so… _fucking_ … hungry.”

She didn’t blink, just stared at him, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“I thought – didn’t you take from Aranea the other day?”

“Wouldn’t let me. Neither would Damara. Cronusssss…..”

The word became a hiss and she suddenly leaned in close, kissing his neck and gripping a fin to hold him close.

“Porrim-” he winced at the shake in his voice. “Porrim, let me go-”

He had gone from angry to _scared_ in the space of a heartbeat and he shivered as she pinched his fin tighter, remembering how strong she could be when hungry…

“No,” Porrim groaned, pressing her teeth to the barely-healed wounds in his neck.

“Porrim,” he managed to pry her fingers off his fin and found it flaring instinctively along with the other. He found himself absurdly glad that Porrim wasn’t a seadweller and couldn’t read his terror in the flapping membranes around his face, “Porrim I don’t think I – maybe tomorrow when you’re not in this weird mood-”

Cronus tried to stand up but she caught a horn before he could and yanked him back down – then with surprising speed straddled his lap, turned him and shoved him down into the sofa cushion so he was pinned on his back below her.

His stomach clenched in fear as he found he could barely move with her heightened ‘Drinker strength keeping him down. In the dim light of the room she blazed with light, and when she opened her mouth a thin trail of saliva stretched between glistening white fangs.

“Porrim- wait-”

But she didn’t. Pushing his face hard into the cushions she took a savage bite and moaned as his cool blood flooded her tongue.

Cronus tried to bite back his cry, but the pain and fear were too much.

“Porrim- stop – ah – Porrim!” he gasped as her fingers dug hard into his arms and she sucked hard at the burning wound in his neck.

The more he struggled the messier and deeper the wound became – but an animal fear was clawing its way up his throat and Cronus couldn’t stop himself thrashing and yelling hoarsely.

He managed to free his arms enough to get a grip around her waist, and then flung them both sideways off the sofa. They hit the floor hard, but he managed to stagger upright, clutching at his neck, and made for the kitchen – if he could get to the transportaliser outside the back door –

She was on him again after just a few uneven steps – grabbing his shoulder and slamming him hard into the wall.

“Porrim,” he couldn’t keep the plea out of his voice, “Porrim, stop – that’s enough-”

“Not enough” she snarled through a mouthful of violet blood and smashed his head back into the wall so his vision whited-out and he blinked, gasping and dizzy and helpless as she went for the other side of his neck, tearing another wound open, and nicking his gills – making his body freeze up in shock.

“Porrim – _please-_ ” he gasped out, desperate enough to stoop to begging – but she didn’t pay any attention and soon he could feel his vision blurring. She drank heavily, but he still tried to push her off – only earning himself another head-slam. She held him against the wall with one hand pressed into a shoulder and the other using a horn to keep his head back - when he struggled she yanked at a fin or gill to paralyse him as pain overcame his system.

Time blurred and Cronus’ consciousness became a tight tunnel of pain and panic. His face was wet – but he had no control over the violet tears streaking down his face. He knew he was crying out, a desperate moan coming between hitched gasping breaths- but he could barely hear himself as his world narrowed to Porrim’s fangs at his neck.

Just as his vision was going black Porrim was yanked back off of him and he collapsed to the ground, hyperventilating and clutching his neck with both hands, and trying to wriggle backwards to hide in the wall somehow –

“Cronus – Cronus I’m so sorry-”

He looked up blearily and saw a furious Kankri standing between him and Porrim – whose eyes were wide and full of tears even as her mouth and neck were coated in violet gore.

“Cronus I – I wasn’t in control – I didn’t mean-”

She moved to help him up and he flinched back instinctively.

“Get. The fuck. Away from me.” He managed to snarl, then stood up with herculean effort and staggered blearily for the door – trying to go anywhere, as long as it was away from Porrim.

He got halfway to the transportaliser when a cold hand caught his arm. Half of him wanted to turn and punch – half of him was ready to collapse in fear – but before he could sort out which instinct to follow Kankri came into view and he collapsed to his knees in relief and exhaustion.

“Kan-” he couldn’t stop the strange little sobs that were coming from his throat, so he didn’t try to – just clung to Kankri’s legs like a lifeline.

Kankri stroked his hair gently, then tapped his shoulder for attention.

Cronus looked up weakly, clamping his hands back over his neck wounds and tried to concentrate on the signs he’d learned just a few hours ago.

“”Where”..? Home – Kan I wanna go home – I wanna get away from her. “No”..? Why “no”? Kan I can’t stay if she’s here…. “She…. Go…”? You’ll make her go? Okay. Okay then I’ll stay. Okay…”

Kankri helped him back into his hive and he collapsed onto the sofa. Porrim was shaking and hugging herself in the corner of the room, but Kankri quickly pulled her into the kitchen, and must have signed something because when Porrim spoke next she was clearly reading something he’d written,

“ _What’s the point of me learning sign language if you still can’t fucking understand me_ – it’s – it’s been _one day_ Kankri I’ll learn it I promise – what were you trying to say?”

A pause, then reading again,

“ _If you’re hungry you can take my blood_ – oh Kankri, no I couldn’t – oh.”

“ _Your kismesis can’t be scared of you_ – I know – I know, Kankri I lost control – it was easy when I was dead but now I just need to drink all the time  - I don’t – I don’t have anyone to teach me this shit-“

“ _You should probably go work on controlling it_. …Yes, okay, you’re right. Tell Cronus – tell him – oh fuck I’ll talk to him later – I’m, I’m sorry Kanny.”

Cronus must have passed out because the next thing he was aware of was Kankri was using his new hands to clumsily wipe blood from Cronus’ wounds and affix dressings over them.

He drifted again, and when he next opened his eyes several hours must have passed. His head felt tender and bruised and he found dark bruises in the shape of Porrim’s hands everywhere she had restrained him. Moving his head – and even swallowing- sent spikes of pain through his throat, but he managed to push himself up into a seated position. 

As if hearing his groans and curses Kankri appeared in the doorway, face pinched anxiously, and clutching his husktop.

“Hey Kan,” Cronus managed weakly and Kankri took it as an invitation to approach, sitting down on the sofa, setting the husktop next to him, and then suddenly grabbing Cronus into an awkward hug.

“Hey – I’m okay, it’s okay,” Kankri just pulled him closer, and then jerked back to tap the husktop. “You… wanna type something?”

Kankri nodded, and didn’t protest as Cronus pulled him into his lap, since it had become their usual position for this sort of thing.

Kankri opened the husktop and Cronus read over his shoulder as he typed.

CG: are y9u 9kay? I was w9rried when y0u passed 9ut

“I’m fine,” Cronus winced as he spoke and amended his response to, “Okay I’m a little banged up and weak from blood loss- but I’m a highblood, give me a few days and I’ll bounce right back.”

CG: H9w l9ng has this… arrangement 6een g9ing 9n 6etween the tw9 9f y9u?

“For a while I guess – since- uh since-”

CG: G9t it.

“You aren’t… you’re okay with it?”

CG: If it were a usual kismesissitude I d9n’t see h9w I’d 6e entitled t9 a say in it.

CG: But since last night things g9t… m9re than a little 9ut 9f hand…

CG: Cr9nus n9t t9 6e insensitive 6ut if y9u’re scared or clearly 9utmatched 6y y9ur kismesis that’s n9t a kismessitude.

CG: that’s a6use

Cronus winced at the word – he almost missed the stream of “trigger words” Kankri would usually pepper his speech with.

“I’m not scared of her,” he lied.

Kankri looked up at him sceptically and Cronus was about to protest further when a pesterchum alert popped up from – _oh perfect_ – Porrim.

Leaning around Kankri, Cronus clicked on it.

GA: I’m so+rry abo+ut last night

GA: I do+n’t  kno+w ho+w to co+ntro+l the thirst but I pro+mise I’m wo+rking o+n it

GA: I do+n’t blame yo+u if yo+u want to+ call things o+ff between us

GA: But as for o+ur missio+n

GA: I’m still in if yo+u are

Cronus nestled his chin in Kankri’s hair and took a steadying breath before replying,

CA: I’m in.

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cronus and Porrim go after hard answers from Vriska and Meenah, with Aranea as their new ally in tow - but despite having her abilities on board things get out of hand quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray another atrocity-packed chapter (seriously what am I doing)  
> Hope you enjoy and sorry for any spelling/ grammar mistakes - after re-reading a chapter enough times I just don't see them :s Have tried to edit meticulously but things always slip through the gaps it seems.
> 
> PS: If, by the end of this chapter, you think you know where this is going... well, rest assured I'd like to think that you don't  
> :) x

 

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Porrim asked, gathering the small group around her nutritionblock table.

“Of course,” Aranea said breezily, straightening her glasses and flashing a sweet smile at Porrim.

“I wasn’t talking to you.” Porrim said carefully, glancing over at Cronus, who had to stop himself from reaching up to cover his neck protectively.

“S’fine.” He muttered darkly, it had been three days since Porrim had gone feral – he was healing fine, but it was the first time they’d spoken in person since that night and he couldn’t shift the strange mixture of anger and fear sitting heavy on his chest.  “Let’s just get this over and done with and hope that Aranaea’s strong enough to combat Vriska’s mind control shit. What’s the plan? We’ve only got a few hours before Meulin leaves Kan – and I won’t leave him alone in that house.”

Porrim nodded seriously and decaptchalogued her husktop, scrolling through various pesterlogs.

“From what Aranea and I gather from talking to various people, tonight is the first night in about a perigree that neither Vriska nor Meenah seem to have plans – and there’s no movie screenings or other meetings scheduled-” Cronus wasn’t even surprised to learn that movie screenings and meetings had been happening without him. “So the odds are good that Vriska’ll be alone in her hive.” She finished.

“So we’re just going to… break in and hold her hostage until Meenah comes? You think it’ll be that simple?” Cronus could barely look at Porrim, and he couldn’t keep the sullenness out of his voice either, to his chagrin.

“Well no I don’t think it’ll be simple – but I know that none of us can take Meenah head on in a fight, but if we have Vriska with a knife to her throat or something they’ll _have_ to give us some straight answers.”

“And it’ll be easy to get a knife to Vriska’s throat because…?”

“Because _I’m_ here and she relies too heavily on her mind control in combat; the loss of it will take her off guard and we’ll have a chance to get her – and Cronus you should really stop scowling at Porrim like that, you know what happened wasn’t her fault.”

Cronus turned his scowl on Aranea… did she really have to be so… _logical_ about everything?

“So you’re happy working with someone who could go crazy and use you as their personal bloodbag at any second?”

“Actually,” Aranea said, flicking that sweet little smile back on again, “Porrim and I have discussed it – and spoken at length with her dancestor who also has the same… condition- and we surmise that as long as she drinks a little at regular intervals there should be little to no risk of her _going_ _crazy_ as you so distastefully put it.”

Cronus was about to protest that Porrim wasn’t getting any more of his blood, before Aranea continued in that same steady, could-go-on-forever voice,

“And no, we won’t be calling on you since you obviously haven’t yet recovered from the incident the other night – so for now I’ve offered up my own blood, although it’s rather a lesser vintage.”

“Don’t be silly, I really appreciate what you’re doing.” Porrim said, squeezing her hand before going to snap the husktop closed – she stopped as a pesterchum notification rung out.

“Cronus you have a message here… from Damara – I’m not translating it now, do you want to look at it later?”

He grunted in response and caught Aranea rolling her eyes at Porrim.

“Well then,” Porrim said quickly, “if that’s all we’d better get a move on in case Vriska gets bored and decides to go out – Sollux tells me she’s online in her hive right now so if there’s no further objections or questions…?”

Aranea shook her head and Cronus grunted again, louder, since it clearly annoyed her, before hunching his shoulders and decaptchaloguing his trident.

 

 

Vriska’s hive was huge and intimidating, a great black monolith rising above them on the edge of a barren cliff side and crenelated and ornamented with any number of iron spikes, elaborate stonework and gargoyles and statues in every available space.

Porrim sniffed, “Tacky.”

“You liked _my_ hive,” Aranea protested in a low hiss,

“Yes but yours is just big – not covered in all that gothic crap,”

“You _like_ gothic,”

“Well I don’t like _this_ ,”

“Did we come to chat, or to find out who mutilated Kankri?” Cronus snapped, shouldering past them to get a closer look at the fortress they had to penetrate.

There were a number of large blue-tinted windows, but they were sectioned into smaller panes that he thought Aranea might fit through – but he and Porrim certainly wouldn’t –

“Let’s try the door.” Aranea said softly, “I know people have been on edge recently and have started locking up when they’re alone… but this is Vriska.”

“So?” Cronus asked, raising an eyebrow,

“So she thinks she’s invincible,” Porrim finished, “Good idea Aranea, let’s try the door.”

To Cronus’ ever-mounting frustration, she was right – the huge oak doors swing open with the merest push, and they were soon creeping up the huge staircase that should lead them to her respiteblock.

“Let’s try to actually get the jump on her, unlike that fiasco with Strider.” Cronus muttered as they moved – earning only a scowl from Porrim and an over exaggerated “shush”ing motion from Aranea.

When they reached the door to Vriska’s respiteblock it was open, and she was watching some human action film with a rugged looking protagonist on her husktop, her feet kicked up on the desk. As they entered and Porrim decaptchalogued her knives Vriska let out a bark of laughter at some corny line of dialogue – apparently engrossed in the film – and yet, as Cronus reached to spin the chair around she leapt up, landed precariously on the wheeled chair,  and kicked him hard in the face so he staggered back, cursing.

“Thought you could take me unawares, huh? Well you obviously don’t know Vriska Serket – I’m not like your Miss Priss in the corner there,” she laughed scornfully at Aranea, then flicked her hands out in a gesture that encompassed the three interlopers, “Now how about you lot take a tumble back down those stairs – they’re soooooooo dangerous, you know!” her stance was authoritative- _triumphant_ – until none of her visitors moved, and then her smile faltered.

“Unfortunately for you, the presence of _Miss Priss_ over there won’t allow you access to those nasty little powers of yours.” Porrim said, baring her teeth with a cruel little smile.

“Now?” Cronus asked.

“Oh I think so, yes.”

Vriska didn’t have a chance to decaptchalogue her dice – or do much of anything – before Cronus was barreling into her and knocking her hard to the ground.

Bereft of any psychic powers she was a lot less intimidating, he mused, as he pushed her face into the carpet – she was tall and gangly, but lacked any real muscular power – and his bulk overpowered her easily.

“Don’t thrash about, I’m just going to tie you up,” Porrim scolded as Vriska screamed and cursed and tried to turn her head to bite Cronus as Porrim approached with a handful of cords.

It took a lot of effort to subdue her, and both Cronus and Porrim suffered a fair share of bruises, but before long Vriska was immobilised and strapped to her desk chair.

“Well wasn’t that exciting,” Aranea said brightly, “What now?”

“FUCK ALL OF YOU! WHAT THE MMMPH-” Porrim pushed a thick wad of material into Vriska’s mouth and tied it round with a ribbon.

Cronus raised an eyebrow and she muttered “What? I had sewing supplies to hand.”

Having Vriska glare death at them while panting and drooling around a gag should have been funny, but was in fact a mixture of horrifying and terrifying, so Porrim wasted no time in making a call to Meenah’s shellphone.

“Good evening Meenah- Yes, no I’m fine – No I’m actually not calling about blood – Although I do have something to ask of you… I’m here at Vriska’s hive with Cronus and Aranea – and if you don’t tell us what you were doing the night of Kanny’s attack, we’re going to start cutting bits of off your little friend until you _do_. … Oh is that right? Well if you really think we’re not up to it, you just can just continue with whatever you’re doing – I’ve got a lot of pent up rage to vent here - … That’s what I thought. See you in ten.”

Porrim snapped her phone shut and then regarded Vriska steadily.

“I’ll remove that gag if you promise not to scream – perhaps there’s something you might like to say about what happened to Kankri?”

Vriska nodded, and began talking the moment the soggy rags were pulled free.

“Yeah I’ve got something to say – someone so disgustingly weak shouldn’t go round mouthing off like that – I’m not surprised he got attacked, I’m not surprised he couldn’t defend himself – and, if I’m being honest, I think it’s fucking hilarious. He won’t be annoying anyone anymore will he? Taking his tongue was the perfect-”

Porrim’s fist smashed into the side of her face and she gasped, then spat out a spray of blood and a few teeth.

“Truth hurts, huh?” she spat at Porrim, “Go on, hit me again – I’ve had worse. I didn’t touch a hair on your precious “ _Kanny’s_ ” head – but I completely understand anyone who did.”

Porrim hit her again, taking satisfaction in feeling bone crunch under her fist – and Cronus had to pull her back by her hair to stop her doing it again.

“Stop beating our fucking leverage.”

Vriska took up a low cackling until Aranea stepped forward and said, “That’s quite enough of _that_.” They stared each other down for a few tense seconds, and then it seemed that Aranea won whatever mental battle had raged – as Vriska clamped her mouth closed tight, and returned to staring daggers at the three intruders in her respiteblock.

They heard Meenah careening her way up the stairs before long – when she burst into the room, eyes flashing fushia and trident at hand, Porrim carefully positioned herself behind Vriska, knife at her neck.

“What the glub is this ship?” Meenah snarled, brandishing her trident – only backing off when Porrim drew a thin line of blood from Vriska’s throat. “I already told Ampora that we didn’t have anyfin to do with what happened to Kankri –“

“ _What were you doing that night Meenah_?” Porrim asked, her skin flicking to luminescent as she fought to control her agitation. “Because you say you two were together and both of you are incredibly flippant about what is a serious and disgusting attack – _and_ both of you are incredibly vocal about how Kankri had it coming-”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, neither of us _like_ Kankri.” Meenah replied, her fins splayed out wide and furious, her rage shaking in her fists. “In fact, not many people like Kankri atoll – so, logically speaking, it’s not surprising somefin like this happened. What _is_ surprising is the lengths you’re going to on your little “revenge” mission. I see you’ve roped in Aranea too. I’d be impressed if I wasn’t so glubbin’ _pissed off_.”

Meenah made to draw back her trident-arm and Porrim reached forward and neatly broke the little finger on Vriska’s right hand.

“OW- what the HELL do you think you’re doing?” Vriska roared.

Porrim stuffed the wad of material back in her mouth to quiet her and spoke in icy tones to Meenah who had frozen where she stood.

“Next move like that and I start cutting fingers off – then Vriska can have _two_ robo-hands just like Kankri. Don’t test me Peixes.”

“Does it matter what we were doing? We didn’t do it – _wait!”_

Too late – Porrim had bought her blade down and severed the little finger, then pulled the knife back to Vriska’s neck.

“One down. Four to go. What were you doing?”

“Just tell her!” Vriska yelled, spitting out the material, “I’d like to keep my fucking fingers – what does it matter who knows??”

“Who knows _what_?” Porrim snarled.

“She’s my glubbin’ _gillfrond_ and we were _pailing_.” Meenah hissed. “Now will you stop mutilating her?”

Porrim didn’t move the blade from Vriska’s neck.

“Do you have any idea of who it could have been? We still don’t have alibis for Eridan and Gamzee…”

“Then go and torture them. But get the glub out of here.” Meenah ground out.

“Okay.” Aranea said sweetly, stepping between the Meenah and the chair. “We’re leaving now, but we want a guarantee that you won’t come after us.”

“You cut off my finger you freaks!” Vriska exclaimed, “Of course I’m coming after you!”

“Then I should just kill you now.” Porrim said stonily.

There was a long pause in which Cronus tried to think of a way the three of them could take Meenah down without sustaining horrendous trident-based injuries – but it was Meenah who cracked.

“Fine. But you’re not just off the hook. You get a two minute head start - if you can make it back to your hives then I’ll let you off. If I catch up with you I’ll krill you – understood?”

“Perfectly.” Aranea said smiling too sweetly for someone who’d just been told she was about to be hunted down, Cronus thought.

“Oh, and if you make it back safe, Vriska and I won’t take your side or help you in anyfin from now on – obviously. In fact, I dunno where this is all going, but if it comes down to it we’ll fight _against_ you, just for the satisfaction.”

“Fine. Two minutes?” Porrim asked, captchaloguing her blade.

“Two minutes.”

 

Cronus immediately pushed Porrim and Aranea ahead of him, then started to follow their frenzied steps down the stairs when Meenah caught his trident.

“Leave this. Tridents are _my_ fin.”

“My main specibus is riflekind. You broke my rifle.” He hissed back, fins flaring to match hers.

“Fine. Use what you want. But this one stays with me.”

Cronus was going to argue but Meenah looked pointedly at the stopwatch on her shellphone and he took her point, running at breakneck speed to catch up with Porrim and Aranea.

They had made it outside and he just managed to hop on the transportaliser with them as they dissapearified.

“Aim for Kankri’s hive,” Aranea gasped out as they appeared in a rocky landscape and started running again, “We can rendez-vous there.”

“Where are you going?” Porrim yelled as Aranea peeled off from the path.

“It’ll be harder for her if we split up – I’ll meet you at Kankri’s!” she disappeared behind an outcropping of rock and Cronus could only assume she knew where another transportaliser was.

Two more hops later and Meenah was right behind them, screaming in incredible high-blood rage and hurling her trident with terrifying speed and strength at their backs.

 

 

“We won’t outrun her like this,” Porrim gasped as they made the next transportaliser millimetres ahead of where the trident had come smashing into the ground.

Cronus grunted in assent, then grabbed her arm as they sprinted down the dirt track that would take them to the next transportaliser in the series that would take them back to Kankri’s.

“Do you trust me?” he hissed

“What, like, morally?”

“Porrim I am trying to _save our fucking lives-”_

“Fine! Yes! I think-”

Not waiting to hear any more he yanked her away from the transportaliser they had been about to take, and on to another a few paces further ahead.

“The seaside? Really? This is _her territory_ -”

“Exactly. Seadweller territory – she wouldn’t think I’d take a landweller this way – and if we’re hidden by the time she checks this route she’ll stop following it and we can get back safely.”

Porrim looked around at the bare cliff top, exasperated, “She’s going to check all the transportalisers and there’s nowhere to fucking hide – _oh_.”

Cronus motioned for her, impatiently and she took a hesitant step towards the cliff edge.

“It’s not a big drop, and the water’s murky so she won’t see us unless she dives in – which I highly doubt.”

Porrim gaped at him, then flicked her head to the transportaliser, knowing it could be mere moments before Meenah appearified, trident at the ready.

“I can’t breathe underwater.” She said lamely,

“Good thing I can.” Cronus said, as he plunged them both over the cliff.

The water was lukewarm and felt thick running through Cronus’ gills, but it was saltwater and not altogether unpleasant – Porrim, on the other hand, was clearly unimpressed - seizing up the second her head went under and scrabbling at his chest in panic.

“Relax, I’ve got us.” He commanded, pulling them down to a safe distance and keeping close to the rocks so Meenah couldn’t catch a glimpse of them if she looked over the cliff.

Porrim’s clawing became more urgent and he noticed how wide and terrified her eyes were.

She clutched at her throat and signed “ _help”_ before trying to swim to the surface – but he her caught her easily and was about to give her the air left in his lungs, when he hesitated.

 _I could just let her drown_.

The thought shocked him – but at the same time, she had been about to kill him the other night – if Kankri hadn’t intervened she would have drained him dry…

Porrim was shaking in his grasp and she signed “ _please_ ”, then used the last of her air on a scream of bubbles he was sure was meant to be “ _Cronus!”._

Before she could take a lungful of water he pushed his mouth hard against hers, pinched her nose and emptied his lungs into hers.

She closed her eyes for a moment, then signed “ _thank you_ ” and then “ _no_ ” repeatedly, before trying to swim to the surface.

“Oh no you don’t,” Cronus said sternly, “Don’t panic, don’t try to say anything – you’ll only waste oxygen. It’s only for a few minutes – I’ll float close to the surface and tell you when Meenah’s gone past  - and yes don’t worry I’ll keep your landweller lungs well stocked in oxygen – what kind of a monster do you take me for?”

Despite his protestations he couldn’t shake the urge to let _her_ suffer – let _her_ feel the fear – but he pushed it down, figuring that if she died Kankri would never forgive him… and honestly she was the driving force behind their mission – he was just the blunt instrument.

After maybe twelve trips to the surface to check for Meenah’s passage and suck in a lungful of oxygen to deliver to the terrified, grasping Porrim, Meenah arrived, screaming in frustration.

For one terrible moment Cronus thought she was about to dive in to the sea – but she just stared out across the waves, then flicked her trident in the air, snatched it up and hurtled on to the next transportaliser.

Cronus felt a sharp tug at his ankle and dived down to give Porrim another lungful.

“She just went past, let’s get back to Kankri’s, yeah?”

She nodded and signed _“yes_ ” frantically.

When Cronus pulled her to the surface Porrim immediately began to hack and choke, sucking in as much seawater as air, desperate as she was to fill her lungs.

“Lie on your back – come on I’ve got you this far, haven’t I?” he said, exasperatedly as her flailing arm clocked him in the side of the head.

When she was on her back, still sputtering and gasping, Cronus towed her round the cliff face to a small stony beach.

Porrim crawled up onto the land and stayed on all fours crying and retching and trembling until Cronus caved and picked her up, hooking an arm under her shoulder and the bend of her knees.

“Never again –" she groaned, shaking and pressing her fingers over her eyes, “That wa-was the worst – I – never never-” she broke off into another hacking cough and Cronus sternly instructed her to focus on breathing as he set off to the transportaliser route that would take them back.

When they reached Kankri’s Porrim jumped down from Cronus’ hold and looked at him steadily.

“You could have let me drown.”

“I nearly did.”

She held his gaze for a long moment, then nodded, apparently understanding something Cronus didn’t.

“I’m going to use the ablutiontrap and change, and then I’m maybe never going to go near water again.”

While Porrim went to shower Cronus changed his shirt and washed his face at the sink – behind him Aranea clicked in on her sensible red shoes and hopped up onto the counter. So. She made it.

“I’ve never seen Porrim look so shaken,” she said chirpily, “but as I understand it you managed to outrun Meenah?”

He grunted in response then went to check on Meulin and Kankri –

Except before he reached the kitchen door he found himself turning back to face Aranea.

“I was talking to you Cronus, don’t be so rude.” She chided, straightening her glasses, then beckoning with one manicured finger.

Cronus went to leave again, irritated, but instead found himself taking heavy, dragging steps towards Aranea on the counter.

He tried to speak but found his throat unwilling to sound, and as he approached Aranea opened her legs wide under her modest little skirt to hook around his hips and draw him close to her.

“That’s _much_ better – I prefer it when you’re obedient.” She breathed in his ear, and the rising dread at not being in control of his body would have overwhelmed him if he wasn’t suddenly preoccupied by the feel of Aranea’s waist under his fingertips.

“That’s it,” she crooned, crossing her ankles tighter to pull him in closer and planting a kiss hard against the barely-healed scars on his neck.

Cronus tried to pull away but only found himself caressing Aranea’s arse and waist, and then pulling her in for a deep kiss.

She laughed delightedly into his mouth and wasted no time in pushing her tongue in and threading a hand into his still-wet hair.

The panic rose slowly but insistently in his chest – he couldn’t speak or move, and no matter how many times he decided to pull away or leave the room he found himself only becoming further locked in the embrace and being smothered evermore by Aranea's insistent kiss –

“Wow. Not interrupting anything I hope?” Cronus had never been so relieved to hear Porrim’s arch voice.

Aranea let out a little huff off annoyance and then he could move again – which he did, quickly staggering backwards and clutching his head.

“That was a quick.”

“I’ve had quite enough water for the time being – Cronus?” Porrim looked to him for an explanation but all he could manage to spit out was a hoarse:

“ _What the fuck was that_?”

Cronus tried to hide how shaken he was, but when Aranea hopped down off the counter and clicked across the nutritionblock tiles to him he couldn’t stop himself cowering a little; pushing himself back into the wall.

 “What?” she asked innocently, reaching up to wipe a smear of blue lipstick from his cheek, “I seem to recall you rather _gagging_ for my attention for countless sweeps – or anyone’s attention really- I thought you’d be pleased.” Her voice was innocent, but there was a sharp glint in her eyes and Cronus found himself flushing and unable to meet her gaze.

“Still.” Porrim’s voice was cold, “You shouldn’t use your powers like that Aranea- leave him alone, he’s obviously uncomfortable.”

“What are you, his lusus?” She snapped back, reaching out a hand to freeze Porrim in the doorway, before returning her attention to Cronus.

“When have _you_ ever taken anyone’s obvious discomfort into consideration anyway?” her voice was a low purr and Cronus found himself unable to move again as she stroked her fingers over his lips, then leaned in to hiss in his ear, “Indeed you do seem to have difficulty taking no for an answer when it comes to… for instance… our mister Captor from what I hear.”

Jerking back Cronus sputtered, “I never –“

But Aranea froze him again, and pinched a fin hard enough to make his eyes water.

“I’m not accusing you of anything, just making a point. Today’s expedition was amusing, I’ll give you that – but I don’t think I’ll be joining in with anymore of your…. Shenanigans. I came _this_ close to being nicked by Meenah’s trident. Unacceptable…  I’ll see myself out shall I?”

Porrim and Cronus both sagged as she released them from her thrall, but as she swept past Porrim caught her arm.

“Apologise.”

Aranea raised an eyebrow and scoffed disdainfully.

“Are you seriously on _his_ side? I thought you were fucking him for the dinner perks?”

Porrim glanced at Cronus, “Don’t twist my words. It’s cruel. Let’s have a- a _discussion_ outside.”

She steered Aranea outside and Cronus tried to swallow the burning feeling rising in his chest and clawing its way out of his throat, standing as if still frozen by Aranea’s power for a few minutes and concentrating on breathing and not choking on the variety of humiliations he was feeling.

_Swallow it down, don’t let it take over… Oh god I need a moirail…_

After a minute he dragged himself into the living room, slumped onto the sofa, and put his head in his hands.

Not long later a hand was laid on his shoulder and when he looked up Kankri signed: “ _Are you okay?”_

“Yeah, nothing to worry about, I just feel a bit – I just – I think it’s my fault actually so – where’s Meulin?“

“ _She left when Porrim came back.”_

“Oh.” He couldn’t manage anything else, and Kankri seemed to pick up on this, sitting down next to him and taking one hand to hold in his gloved ones.

“Thanks Kan.”

Kankri nodded contemplatively and then began to sign,

_“I think-”_

_“I don’t think-”_

_“Cronus you’re not a bad person-”_

_“Or not to me-”_

_“I mean-”_

_“I know what you-”_

He couldn’t seem to find the signs – or the words – and Cronus caught his hands again in his own.

“Do you want me to get the husktop, or-?”

Kankri shook his head and leaned forwards instead to plant a clumsy kiss on his cheek instead.

“Kan- you-?” Cronus was stunned, but didn’t protest when Kankri tried again, tentatively kissing his lips and pulling him closer with his stiff fingers.

“Kan, Kankri,“ Cronus said softly, winding an arm around him and holding him close, “Please don’t take this the wrong way but – you- you mean the world to me mate – but I’ve had one hell of a day and I don’t think I can deal with this right now – I’m not saying no,” he added quickly as Kankri started to pull away, “I’m just saying… uh…” What _was_ he saying? This was the least like him he’d ever sounded – spider-bitches messing with your brain would do that to you, it seemed.

“Give me until tomorrow to process this properly, yeah?”

He planted a kiss between Kankri’s horns and Kankri snuggled down next to him, appeased.

Just as Cronus was beginning to nod off with Kankri’s warm little body comfortably tucked in his arms, Porrim slammed open the door and he had to stop himself from ducking behind Kankri like a shield.

“Is she gone?” He managed,

“Yes she’s gone, but we’ve got a problem.”

Cronus looked at her quizzically and she wrung her hands.

“Well after I – I told her off for what she – what she did wasn’t acceptable and what she said wasn’t- fair… or not wholly-”

Cronus’ stomach twisted again.

“Get to the point,” he snapped.

“I spoke a lot harsher than I meant to and she withdrew her offer of blood.” Porrim finished solemnly.

“So what does that…” Cronus trailed off as he figured it out, “Oh _fuck_ no.”

 “I’ll only need to take a little if you let me do it regularly,” she said quickly, “It’ll only get out of control if we leave it too long and I get too thirsty– but if we regulate it, it should be easy to-“

Cronus had been wordlessly shaking his head but he found his tongue,

“No. not again. Go to anyone else I don’t care – just not me-”

“ _There is no one else_!” Porrim yelled back, her eyes wide as if feeling the same fear Cronus did, “No one else will let me and if you refuse me I’ll go hungry and maybe just take it anyway – do you want that?”

Kankri placed a hand on Cronus chest to stop him getting up and bolting from the room like he wanted, then signed to Porrim.

_“You can have my blood like I said before – take from me.”_

“Kankri that’s a really nice offer and I appreciate it but I’ve spoken to Kanaya and she’s tried your dancestors blood and-” Kankri figured it out before she said it, nodding resignedly, “Mutant blood is no good for us – the same with human blood, it seems.”

Cronus barked out a short, humourless laugh.

“Shame we keep burning all your bridges, eh darlin’?”

 _“I’m not asking you to do that by the way – you can stop.”_ Kankri added hurriedly – signs that both Porrim and Cronus ignored as they regarded each other from across the room. Cronus found his muscles tensed to run.

Before he could, though, Kankri’s husktop chimed loudly from the coffee table.

Neither Porrim nor Cronus moved, so Kankri flipped it open then pointed at Cronus.

“Message for me?”

 _“Yes, from…_ ” he scowled, then mimed large curling horns around his face.

“Damara?”

“ _Yes!”_

_Of course, the message from earlier- she must be impatient for a reply._

Cronus took the husktop from Kankri, glad for a distraction from the topic at hand, and opened the message, most of which was in her incomprehensible East Beforan dialect – but from what he could decipher, she wanted to talk to _him_ specifically– not Porrim - and-

“She’s got new information for us.”

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kankri makes a move on Cronus, Damara gives Cronus some food for thought and an unwelcome visitor arrives with some urgent news...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter turned into an absolute monster so I've cut it in half.  
> Because of the split, the chapter before you is the fluffiest chapter you're likely to get in this whole fic - I hope you enjoy it!  
> Also, Damara's "East Beforan" is badly google-translated Japanese, as Hussie did it, but thanks anyway to Em (over at hoshinohanataba on tumblr) for taking a look at it and adding comments like "good lord" at my attempts.  
> Also thanks to Em for editing lil bits of this - you are a star :3  
> As usual next chapter should be up within a week xx

 

Porrim had left last night with a stern “we need to talk about this” note on the blood donation front. Cronus had stoically ignored her and, after bathing and changing, settled in for a restless sleep on Kankri’s sofa.

Kankri had offered his room to Cronus a few times – but neither of them much liked to go in there; in Cronus’ mind it was still painted scarlet with Kankri’s blood.

The next day was as grey and dull as every day before it on the strange little holding planet, but Cronus dragged himself up and sat determinedly at the nutritionblock table with a mug of coffee and a pack of Meulin’s flashcards, resolved to practise some signs before Kankri came down.

After an hour or so’s work he got restless and started pacing the nutritionblock – Kankri still slept too much, but he was usually downstairs by now…

 _Speak of the devil._ Kankri appeared in the doorway, in a new black-wool sweater, his birds-nest hair still damp from the ablutionblock.

“ _Morning Kan,”_ Cronus signed, grinning.

“ _You’ve been practising!”_

“Yeah no need to look so shocked,” he said, pretending to be offended until Kankri came up to butt him in the chest with his horns.

“ _Stop.”_

“Yeah alright,” Cronus laughed, following Kankri back into the living room and gathering up his blankets from the sofa so they could sit down. “Did you want breakfast or-”

_“Not hungry.”_

“Okay well you’re having something in a few hours or Porrim’ll kill me… and I _really_ don’t need to get on her bad side right now,” he added darkly.

Kankri nuzzled into his shoulder and Cronus put his arm round him almost without thinking.

“You should have seen her dealing with Vriska and Meenah yesterday… fucking terrifying… until I got her underwater and then she put on the most pathetic spectacle I’ve ever seen. Landwellers, eh?”

Kankri jabbed him with an elbow and he laughed, but then Kankri nudged him again to get his attention.

_“Type…?”_

“You wanna write something?”

Cronus grabbed the husktop and Kankri positioned himself on his lap.

CG: Cr9nus I really appreciate what y9u and P9rrim are d9ing

CG: 6ut at the same time, as I have repeatedly made clear, I w9uld much prefer that y9u st9pped y9ur investigati9ns

Cronus went to speak but Kankri raised a hand to shush him and continued typing, stabbing his metal fingers awkwardly into the buttons, but still taking the time to use his quirk.

CG: I kn9w y9u want justice and it means a l9t t9 me t9 kn9w that I have such g99d

He paused,

CG: friends

CG: as y9u and P9rrim

CG: y9u saved my life, I kn9w

CG: 6ut please c9uld y9u just… dr9p it?

Cronus shifted uncomfortably, “Kan, mate, I think we’re a bit too far in to stop now.”

Kankri shivered against him and Cronus gently touched his chin to turn his face up to him.

“Kan… what’s the matter? Please. Why don’t you want us to do this – is it some troll Ghandi _an eye for an eye_ thing?”

Kankri turned back to the husktop and paused, mechanical hands hovering over the keyboard, before typing,

CG: N9

CG: I just

CG: I d9n’t want to talk a69ut it with y9u

He was shaking harder now and a bead of sweat ran down the back of his neck.

“Kan?” Cronus was concerned, he hadn’t seen Kankri react like this since his daymares began to taper off, “Kan are you okay?”

Kankri gave a little snort that might have been laughter.

CG: N9

“Kankri look I know you don’t want to talk about it with me, I’m not your moirail and I’m not trying to be – but if we’re going to stop this we need a good reason why.”

 _Not that we’re going to stop… sorry Kan_. He thought with a grimace.

Kankri took a few shaky breaths and then typed slowly.

CG: I d9n’t kn9w why I d9n’t want y9u t9 find them

CG: L9gically I sh9uld want that

CG: 6ut the th9ught 9f it makes me s9

CG: Cr9nus I’m s9 fucking scared

CG: all the time

CG: and the idea 9f finding them fills me with such dread

CG: please st9p

CG: please please st9p

He highlighted and deleted the text as soon as he’d finished, then leaned back into Cronus arms, apparently exhausted.

“Hey, hey Kan it’s gunna be okay,” Cronus muttered into his hair, planting a kiss to a nubby horn, “I’ll… I’ll talk to Porrim, yeah?”

The lie came out easily and Kankri nodded gratefully, before shifting round on Cronus’ lap and shyly kissing him on the cheek, in the same place he’d done the night before.

Cronus cupped his cheek in one hand and looked at him, trying to gauge what his reaction might be. He then pressed his lips gently to Kankri’s in a soft, sweet kiss that he fully expected Kankri to jerk away from. Instead, Kankri pressed into the kiss eagerly, his mouth hot and sweet, and when Cronus gently opened his mouth with his lips and flicked in his tongue to taste, Kankri leaned in hungrily, metal hands grasping ineffectually at shoulders and shirt.

“Kan,” Cronus said gently, pulling away, “Kan not to ruin anything here but I gotta ask – what about your vow..?”

Kankri snorted again and picked up the husktop from where it had slid forgotten onto the sofa beside them.

CG: It’s a 6it late f9r that n9w, d9n’t y9u think?

Cronus didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that, so he settled on putting the husktop aside and drawing Kankri in for another long kiss.

Kankri quickly pulled himself round to straddle Cronus – not in the sultry, seductive way Porrim had, but in a clumsy, inexperienced, needy way that to Cronus was almost more exciting.

Cronus grabbed a handful of Kankri’s bony backside, and pulled him in closer so he could grind up against him while his lips explored his mouth, the tips of his ears, his neck - Kankri let out a tiny, shuddering moan as Cronus mouthed at his neck. The sound sent heat flooding into Cronus’ stomach.

Gritting his teeth, because pulling away from this was torture, Cronus leaned back and caught Kankri’s hands in his own.

Confused, impatient eyes met his.

“Kan do you think this is maybe going a little too fast?”

Kankri scoffed and Cronus knew that if he let go of the metal hands they would have signed something like “ _Says Cronus Ampora.”_

“Believe me I’m incredibly on board here,” _he must be able to feel me through my jeans for fucks sake_ , “I’m only thinking of you,”

This time he released Kankri’s hands,

“ _I’ve thought about it. I know what I want.”_

“Well okay then.” Cronus flashed his best shark-grin at Kankri and captured his mouth again, reaching one hand down to stroke Kankri though his trousers, resulting in a deliciously high-pitched whine.

Kankri’s hands clumsily tugged at Cronus’ shirt and he yanked it off. Had Kankri a tongue he would have licked at the violet membranes fluttering at Cronus’ neck and along his ribs, but he contented himself with kissing them – and moaning into them as Cronus palmed him again.

“Here,” Cronus grunted, lifting Kankri off the sofa and laying them on the floor to better grind against him, enjoying the shivers and moans he elicited.

Kankri panted, his head flung back and his breath hitching in his throat as Cronus kissed and sucked at his neck and stroked strong hands up his thighs. As he flicked a thumb over Kankri’s nook and squeezed his bulge through his pants Cronus couldn’t resist taking a moment to stare at Kankri’s face – usually so drawn and pale, now flushed pink with pleasure, his eyes wide and glassy.  

When he couldn’t take it any longer, Cronus pushed up Kankri’s sweater, with the objective of getting his clothes off and out of the _damn_ way - but the second the sweater was off and his fingers touched the jagged “shhh” scars raised in stark pink welts across Kankri’s stomach, he froze beneath him.

“Kan?”

Kankri’s breathing was suddenly a lot more ragged, the noise he made small and scared.

“Kankri?”

Cronus pulled back enough for Kankri to lift shaking hands and sign,

_“No, stop, I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-“_

“Hey,” Cronus yanked himself back and sat on his haunches, “Kan - we can stop it’s fine- you’re fine-”

Kankri blinked and then scrambled back on his elbows until he hit the wall, before pulling his knees in tight and crying softly, shaking and gasping, his hands protecting his head.

“Kan? Mate you don’t have to be sorry…” Cronus felt sick suddenly, and… guilty?

He was worried about Kankri, of course, and furious at whoever had reduced him to this quivering heap – but there was something else…

Aranea’s words swam to the forefront of his mind:

_“When have you ever taken anyone’s obvious discomfort into consideration anyway?” “You do seem to have difficulty taking no for an answer…”_

That was it. The awful thought: _In the past, if we had got this far, would I have stopped?_

He swallowed the thought down furiously and tried to banish images of Mituna trembling as Cronus patted his shoulder – enjoying the power he had over him-

_But you’re different now. You stopped._

He hoped it was true.

 

Cronus found his shirt and tugged it back on, then offered Kankri his sweater.

Kankri grabbed it, but then stared at it helplessly.

“Do... do you want me to help?” Kankri nodded, then signed _“I’m sorry_ ” again.

“Not your fault,” Cronus said firmly, pulling the sweater down over his stomach – and the mess of scars there.

He looked at Kankri then – he was still shaking, his eyes wild and full of tears.

“…Do you want me to leave you alone, or do you want a hug?”

Almost before he’d finished speaking Kankri fell into his arms and Cronus pulled them both back onto the sofa to watch another pan-numbing earth documentary.

“It’s alright, it’s gunna be alright,” Cronus whispered, stroking Kankri’s back, _Just as soon as I find out who attacked you and skin them alive, that is._

 

When Porrim arrived she must have sensed something was wrong because she quirked an eyebrow at Cronus – who signed “ _later_ ” over Kankri’s head – sign language was quickly becoming useful for a lot of things, it seemed- and she nodded in reply.

“Have you eaten yet? I’ve bought supplies and I don’t mind making something…?”

“I’ve eaten – Kan needs to.” Cronus said, extricating himself from Kankri and stretching out his cramped arms.

“Alright I’ll do us breakfast – that okay with you Kanny?” Kankri bared his teeth at the nickname, but nodded at the offer, and Cronus followed Porrim into the nutritionblock as casually as he could.

“What happened?” she whispered as soon as the door was shut behind them.

Cronus grimaced, “Well, uh – promise not to kill me?”

“ _What did you do?”_

“Nothing!” Cronus stepped back quickly and raised his arms, “But I’m not sure you’re gunna approve.”

“Oh god. He’s really flushed for you, isn’t he?”

Cronus stared, “How did you-?”

“I can read Kankri like a book,” she said breezily, grabbing a frying pan and a chopping board, as familiar with this nutritionblock as her own, “He’d like to pretend that’s not true, but I know him too well. So he made a move or..?”

“Last night. But after Aranea I… Well anyway this morning-”

“Let me guess, things went a bit too quickly?”

“It was his idea,” Cronus said defensively, “Seriously. And we stopped the second he started to freak out-”

“Relax. I trust you around Kankri, remember? Also this is getting dangerous close to too much information.”

Cronus snorted, nodding.

“So when are you planning on telling Kan how desperately pale you are for him?”

He was ready for the slap but it still stung.

“I – that’s none of your business.” Porrim stroked his cheek where she had slapped it, flushing dark green.

“True.” Cronus said, pushing her hand away as if her attention was annoying, instead of still quite frightening, especially when they were alone in such close proximity, “Right well, I’m off to talk to Damara.”

“Actually before you go we should probably talk about the, uh, issue of bloo-”

“Can’t hear you! Talk later!” he yelled, almost running out the back door.

 

 

Once he hit the first transportaliser Cronus paused and decaptchlogued his cigarettes and lighter. In the first few days after the attack when Kankri was really out of it he’d got away with smoking in the back doorway, but now he had to smoke when he could – as neither Porrim nor Kankri approved of the habit.

“Porrim’s probably worried about me poisoning her food,” he muttered darkly, taking a long drag. He didn’t relish the idea of having to be her donor again – nevermind the perks that came with it.

 _Perks_ …

Aranea voice rose up again _“I thought you were fucking him for the dinner perks?”_

He winced. Another thing he didn’t want to examine too closely was what exactly was going on between him and Porrim. Everything was such a confusing mess nowadays – things had been a lot easier when he was dead…

Finishing the cigarette he reached for another, then thought better of it – probably best not to keep Damara waiting too long if she did have valuable information like she claimed.

Damara was in fact waiting for him on the steps of her hive when he appearified.

“おはよう魚の顔”

_Hello… something about fish…?_

“Uh, yeah, hi,” she was still in her pyjamas and rolling a cigarette expertly in her fingers. “So… you didn’t fancy another chat with Porrim, huh?”

“ああ、その雌犬はほとんどコヒーレント会話を保持することができてください。彼女は、私はむしろあなたと話したい...ヒッピーヒッピーは本当に悪く揺れていました。次の2つの悪のうち小さい方をしています.”

Cronus blinked. _Something about Porrim… something rude… she’d prefer to talk to me because…?_

“Can you repeat that last bit?”

Damara looked him up and down scornfully, then sighed, when she spoke next her accent was thick and her syntax imperfect – but it was completely comprehensible.

“You should really try to learn East Beforan. To be polite. I don’t like talk in your dialect. It too early - my head hurt.”

Cronus stared in shock, then laughed, “Did you really spend a billion sweeps in dream bubbles _pretending_ to not be able to speak to us?”

“Only to people I not like.” She said with a sly grin, then rolled her eyes at the look of hurt that registered on his face, “Oh psssh you knew that. Anyway that maybe changed now. You more _interesting_ now. How your ミッション going?”

“It’s not a _mission_ exactly, and it’s…” he sighed and sat down beside her on the steps, pulling his cigarette’s back out of his sylladex and lighting one up. “Honestly we’re running out of suspects and Kankri’s got this deep rooted fear about us carrying on- like he practically begged me to stop searching for the culprit – while at the same time admitting that it was completely illogical-”

“You know what make people so very scared?” Damara interrupted, poking a fingernail into his chest to stop him.

Cronus swatted her hand away and shrugged, “Trauma?”

“確かに,” she agreed, taking his lighter to light her own smoke, “But also chucklevoodoos. They make people so very scared – people might not even know why they scared, because the chucklevoodoo go so deeply.”

Cronus gaped at her, “Chucklevoodoo – the Makaras? But Kurloz was with Meulin and Gamzee has no real reason to - but then he’s gone on rampages before – but-“

Damara snagged a fin to turn his head, then stroked it with absentminded gentleness and took another drag before speaking again.

“Who told you Kurloz was with Meulin? Bet it Meulin huh? She says whatever he want her to say - remember that. Not her fault. That Makara boy tricky.” She frowned, “I not know about Gamzee…”

Cronus could feel the agitation buzzing under his skin with the nicotine – _didn’t Gamzee carve up a bunch of the betas and then keep the heads in one timeline or something?_ Anyone who did that to his friends could easily do that to someone they barely knew… maybe someone who annoyed them-

Cronus got a vivid flashback of Kankri writhing in his own blood and the profound fury that followed took his breath away so he could barely speak,

“I need to – I should call Porrim- I’ve got to-”

He went to get up when she papped him – and it _was_ a pap – and he was so shocked that his knees folded again under him as calm flooded through his system.

“Or maybe it just trauma. Just an idea. Please relax it too early for drama.”

“I… okay…”

“Who else left on your list?”

“My dancestor,” he was mortified to find his words coming a little slurred as she continued to gently pap his face,

“Haven’t seen much of that one… you want me to stop?”

“I… I don’t know…” he mumbled as his brain turned to a warm fog.

“Hmm. I stop then.” She said, and gave him a minute to find his senses again. “Should have asked first. Sorry. You high-bloods though… あなたはすべての爆発が起こるのを待っています”

Cronus moved his lips silently as he translated, “Explosions waiting to happen? A bit hypocritical coming from _you_.”

“I was provoked.” She said, sucking on her cigarette as if it had offended her personally, “You can ask your true-love Meenah about that…”

“She’s not my true – actually she hates me now. More than usual I mean. I mutilated her matesprit – or… I helped, anyway.”

Damara turned a smile on him that was close to genuine.

“So that rumour true? 良いです. Nice work.” She paused, “You want to be careful who you piss off though.”

“Again – a bit hypocritical – Horuss _punched a tree in half_ when he heard what you got up to with Rufioh the other night _._ A _tree_. With his _bare fucking hands_.”

Damara grimaced, “I not think that through.”

“No shit.”

She scowled at him, “I not actually do anything bad with 馬鹿な機能 that night. We just talking. But I angry at him so I wanted to get him in trouble. I didn’t think…”

“You didn’t think how it would hurt Horuss. Charming nickname for Rufioh, by the way.”

“Yes. Well no – but I not care when I was angry. And Porrim was annoying me asking for blood. So disgusting. So I lied.” She put the butt out on the tip of her horn where it curled around her face, and Cronus slapped it away before it could do any damage.

“You lowbloods,” he said, clicking his tongue disapprovingly, “かんしゃくを持っている赤ちゃんのよう.”

Damara laughed delightedly, “Look at you. An arsehole in two dialects. That not bad. Not good… but not bad.”

Cronus grinned and offered her one from his pack so they could smoke in companionable silence for a while.

“So what was this information you said you had for us?” Cronus asked carefully, after a while.

“I think… maybe more than one person responsible.” She said seriously, “And I think some people lying to you. Some people very good liars. I would know.”

Cronus looked at her dismayed, _did that mean they had to start over – from scratch? Or maybe-_

“Do you think Meenah was lying?”

Damara snorted. “No. She can’t lie when she angry. Also what happened to 小さな赤いです not her style. But you need to double-check your list of friends and enemies.”

“How do you _know_ this, Damara?” he pressed, feeling his agitation rising again.

She sighed, “Maybe I not _know_. But at least two attackers. I been thinking about this. Kankri not strong but he not weak – he would have to be restrain. One person cannot write on his stomach. One person cannot cut out his tongue.”

Cronus felt his stomach sinking. She was absolutely right. Why hadn’t he thought about it before?

_Because you didn’t want to think about it…_

“Why’ve you been thinking about this?” he asked, mainly to drown out his own damning thoughts, “That’s a bit of a grisly pass-time, don’t you think?”

She shrugged, “I got lots of time to pass. People only come see me when they want something.”

The frankness of her tone hit him like a punch to the stomach.

“Oh. …I’m sorry.”  He didn’t know what else to say.

She started rolling another cigarette, letting her hair fall forward to hide her face.

“It okay.”

“No it’s not,” Cronus felt strangely indignant all of a sudden, “It’s not at all.”

She snorted again, and leant over to rest her head on his shoulder, “No. It not at all.”

He didn’t need her to nudge her horns into his chin to prompt him – but she did it anyway – and then he raised a tentative hand to pap her cheek as softly as he could manage.

 

 

Dizzy with the memory of his _first ever real feelings jam_ Cronus didn’t notice the visitor at Kankri’s nutritionblock table until it was too late to avoid her.

“Hello again Cronus,” Aranea said softly.

“The fuck are you doing here?” He only barely stopped it being a yell.

“I just came round to give you some news – ah, here we go.”

Porrim entered with Kankri in tow.

“How’re you doing Kankri?” Aranea asked, voice saccharine sweet and dripping with condescension – it was the kind of voice you might use to talk to a wriggler and Kankri shrugged uncomfortably, taking the seat furthest from her across the square table- forcing Cronus to sit next to her. “He looks better than you said Porrim, that’s good.”

Kankri scowled and began picking stray thread from the sleeve of his sweater.

 _Does she know what she’s doing?_ Cronus thought disbelievingly. In one sentence she both relegated Kankri to an object – or at least passive party in the conversation – and suggested one of the few people he trusted was talking about him in his vulnerable state.

“You know he’s right there,” Cronus said, a little more aggressively than he meant to, “You don’t have to fucking talk over him.”

Aranea blinked innocently at him, like she didn’t understand, but Porrim shot him a warning glance across the table, so he subsided. He really didn’t want to provoke either woman. Kankri signed “ _thank you_ ” though, which made him feel a little better.

“So what did you come to tell us?” Porrim said, and Aranea adjusted her glasses.

“Well, if Cronus has stopped being so prickly it’s actually for his benefit I came – because a meeting has been called – and I know that no one talks to you, Cronus, so I thought it was only fair to let you in on this one as it concerns you greatly.”

 _She must be doing this on purpose._ Cronus thought, clenching his fists under the table. _“No one talks to you”_ \- _she’s like the queen of fucking micro aggressions._

“A meeting about... Cronus?” Porrim asked, confused.

“Well, no, about the two of you – after you started cutting bits off of Vriska everyone sort of decided you’d gone too far… “

Kankri had hit the table hard with his hands.

“ _You did what??_ ” he signed, “ _You can’t – I didn’t ask you to-“_

Porrim caught his hands, “I know, and we’ll talk about this later, I promise, okay?”

He yanked his hands back and looked at Cronus with confusion and – yes, there it was again – fear in his eyes.

“ _She deserved it._ ” Cronus signed back.

Aranea made a prim little “a- _hem_ ” sound and continued once everyone had turned their attention back to her.

“So the meeting later is about whether or not you should be stopped. And how.”

Porrim frowned, “Will it be held in the usual place?”

“Yes – that cavern-type place, and everyone’s invited, but I don’t know how many will actually show up… It’s up to you whether _you_ do or not – but I just thought you should know. As despite what you said the other day, Porrim, I still consider us friends.”

“That’s… that’s very good of you,” Porrim said carefully, eyes flicking to Cronus and Kankri, “Was there anything else or…? Not to be rude but we should probably have a discussion…”

“No no, I understand completely,” Aranea said, standing and smoothing down her dress carefully, “Gosh I suppose conversations  are a little different in this hive now – a bit quieter, eh?” she laughed softly, but Cronus could see the flush rising up Kankri’s neck. “I’m just teasing. Well I’ll leave you to it.”

She paused and turned in the kitchen doorway before she left and regarded the three of them sat round the table.

“Look at you three, like a human family almost – you must be loving this Cronus, you just need a wrigg- wait what’s the word? _Baby_. You just need a baby now and you’d be living the dream. Well see you later – or not!” her tinkly laugh grated on every one of Cronus’ nerves and he stayed frozen until he heard the _whoosh_ of the transportaliser, then groaned and buried his head in his hands.

“Can I kill her?” he moaned, “Please? I could make it look like an accident?”

Porrim laughed, “Honestly right now I think I’d help. I don’t think she realises how cutting she can be.”

Kankri snorted, “ _I think she knows exactly how cutting she can be._ ”

He paused, then, “ _Talking about cutting-_ “

“Vriska really did deserve that. We’re getting close Kan-” Cronus began, trying to put it in as positive of a light he could manage, but the fire was in Kankri’s eyes,

“ _You told me you’d stop!”_

“I said we’d talk about it,” Cronus grimaced, guiltily.

“Out of the question.” Porrim said in a low voice, “Kankri I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to bring whoever is responsible to justice.”

Kankri looked at her pleadingly, then sighed and nodded.

 _“I think Meulin should be over soon. Go to the meeting if you want. I obviously don’t have a say in anything anymore. Literally or otherwise._ ”

“Kankri don’t-” Porrim tried to snag his arm as he left the room, but stopped when the doorbell rung and Meulin yelled out a greeting. “Okay, well, maybe we’ll talk later, okay Kanny?”

He didn’t reply and when he met Meulin he took her outside to talk, in the shade of the broken tree.

Cronus flashed a smirk at Porrim, “Why don’t you just tell him you can’t let it go because you’re stupidly pale for him?”

“Because – well you know how he is!” Porrim sighed, “And even if he is doing quadrants now he clearly doesn’t feel the way I do…”

Cronus shrugged. It wasn’t really his business – and what did he know about how to approach quadrant situations? Things he actively pursued never worked – he seemed to be falling into quadrants by accident…

That reminded him,

“Damara had some interesting things to say-”

Porrim stopped him with a wave of her hand.

“Cronus I think there’s a few more pressing things to discuss.”

“Like?” he stomach sank. _Please can we not do this now…?_

Porrim steepled her fingers.

“I know you don’t want to have this conversation-”

“Yeah not at all.”

“ _Let me finish._ ” She snapped, then softened at his tiny involuntary flinch. “Look, for Kankri’s sake as much as our own, I think it’s important we go to this meeting – and that we show a- a united front. We’re making enemies everywhere we turn and – as you said the other day – we’re not trying to start a war. If we let this meeting happen without us the group might decide that we’re too dangerous and need to be taken down.”

Cronus frowned, “You really think so? We haven’t pissed off _that_ many people-”

“All of the humans are angry with us for how we approached Dirk. Rose is sympathetic to our cause because she saw what happened to Kankri first-hand – but she doesn’t approve of our methods. In our group – well Meenah is furious at us, Rufioh and Horuss aren’t happy about what our investigations bought up – Damara is apparently on our side you say – and Meulin is with us – so I suppose that means Kurloz is with us too…”

She paused and scowled, “But let’s face it Mituna hates you, so really I don’t know where Kurloz stands, and Latula… well she hates you… but quite likes me – although I did annoy her -”

“Asking for blood? Shocker.”

Porrim ignored him and continued rattling off her checklist,

“But she and Kankri always had a kind of awkward… or at least Kankri did… okay I don’t know where Latula stands either.” She conceded. “And Aranea-”

“Is apparently with us but the less we have to do with her the happier I’ll be.” Cronus said firmly, “And the betas?”

“We actually do better with the betas – because so many of them dislike Vriska. Let’s see… Sollux is still with us – he’s been helping me over pesterchum – and by extension Aradia and Karkat are not _against_ us. I think Nepeta and Equius took a disliking to _you_ -“

“Yeah, my bad.” The scratches Nepeta had left on his face had thankfully healed up nicely, but he didn’t think he was forgiven for his jibe about Equius.

“…But they didn’t mind me or Kankri. So I don’t know for sure – and I’m equally unsure of where Tavros and Feferi’s support will lie…. The young Pyrope was completely behind out quest for justice until we mutilated her… moirail? – I think? Now I don’t know. Kanaya is still technically behind us – but in a group situation I think she’ll support whatever Rose says…

“So that leaves Gamzee and Eridan.” Cronus finished, “And fuck knows what they think of the situation.”

“They’re the wildcards, yes.” Porrim said, pursing her lips, “I couldn’t even _guess_ how they feel about what we’re doing – and in fact I’m not sure they either know or care for that matter.”

Cronus ran the mental calculations quickly, “That’s only six technically approving of what we’re doing – with way too many against or with an unclear position. You’re right. We need to be there to explain ourselves. Or defend ourselves I suppose.”

She nodded, then tentatively reached for his hand across the table.

“Cronus, listen to me.”

“I’m listening,” he said, a little hesitant at her serious tone, meeting her narrow jade eyes with his violet ones.

“God knows I don’t like you, but I _trust_ you.” She squeezed his hand and looked away before continuing, speaking to the worn tabletop, “And I… I respect you. For what you’ve done for Kankri and how you’ve handled the situations we’ve found ourselves in. I might go as far as to say that I admire you – for your quick-thinking and strength –if it didn’t leave such a bitter taste in my mouth.”

Cronus smirked and she hissed back, blushing furiously.

“ _Please_ take what I’m about to say seriously.” He sobered and nodded, motioning for her to continue. “Cronus I would like to think that you can respect me, maybe even admire me- ” _I do. I really do-_ “But I need to prove that you can trust me – that I’m worthy of your trust. Because I’ve had a fair few black flings, but I think I’ve found a worthy kismesis in you… And so I’m going to ask you to let me take some blood. Because I need to prove that I have this under control.”

He knew it was coming but he still shuddered.

“I…” he swallowed, throat suddenly dry, “I do respect you. I do admire your intelligence and fighting style and sheer fucking single-mindedness… and I want to trust you I really do…” _But I’m so scared. I was so fucking powerless – me! - and you threw me around like a ragdoll. I don’t want to feel my lifeforce being sucked out of my veins again I can’t do it -_  

He couldn’t voice any of his fears though. As doing so would strip him of any right to be her kismesis.

“You’ll let me take some blood?”

 _No_. “Yes.”

“Do you want me to get Kankri to stand by just in case?”

 _Yes._ “No.”

“Okay – do you want to stay sitting down – or stand up or-”

“Wait – we’re doing this now?” His voice came out hoarse and he felt his fins flare in sudden panic – he thought it would be happening _soon_ , sure – but _right now_? Didn’t they have a meeting to deal with-?

Instead of backing off like he hoped he would, Porrim just smirked,

“Re- _lax_ babe-”

“Don’t _babe_ me,“ he snarled, fear replaced with a spike of anger.

She pushed her chair out and came to perch on the table in front of him,

“That’s better. Angry is better than scared.”

“I’m not scared.” He hissed, kissing back roughly when she pressed her lips to his.

“Course you’re not,” she breathed against his lips, “course you’re not.”

She kissed him again and then slipped onto his lap, moving her kisses from his lips to his jaw, to his _neck_ -

Cronus felt every muscle in his body seize up, but he still titled his head back for her, squeezing his eyes closed as tight as they would go and gripping onto the table edge as though his life depended on it.

“Trust me, I’ve got this under control,” she mumbled against his skin, before pushing her fangs down hard. At the twin spikes of pain he began shivering uncontrollably, but kept his moan trapped behind his painfully clenched teeth.

Porrim swallowed a mouthful and shifted in his lap, pulling closer and slightly moving her fangs in his neck-

_Don’t panic don’t panic it’s not like last time she’s going to stop she going to-_

“Porrim,” he bit out, “Porrim can you stop for just a second. Please.”

She grumbled something into his neck but swallowed again and then pulled out, the tug of her fangs coming free of his skin filled him more with relief then pain.

“…Everything okay?”

Cronus wiped the sweat from his face and then covered his face with his hands, breathing shakily.

“Fine.” He grunted out. “Fine. I just need a second.”

After a moment he nodded, not trusting himself to speak, and titled his head back again, gripping the table again as she bit in hungrily.

As she drank one hand caressed the back of his neck while the other rubbed comforting circles into the small of his back, but by the time she finished and pulled away, neatly licking away the last violet drops, he was shaking violently, knuckles white with the strain of keeping himself still and quiet, silent tears slipping out of his screwed shut eyes.

“Hey, hey I’m done,” she said quietly, forcing his hands open and rubbing some life back into them, “That wasn’t so bad was it?”

“I think I enjoyed that about as much as you enjoyed being underwater,” he managed to say, before a gust of hysterical strange laughter bubbled up and burst out, until he was shaking with the force of it, tears streaming down his face.

Porrim pulled his head down to cradle it against her breast and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her crushingly close to him.

“Next time will be easier.” She whispered, when the fit had passed.

“I hate you so fucking much.” He said into her chest.

“The feeling is more than mutual,” she leant in to capture his mouth with hers, and didn’t protest when he lifted her onto the table and pushed her down so she was spread out before him.

“Darling we don’t have the time - and I did just take some potentially vital blood so I’m not you’d even be up for-” she teased, grinning wickedly until he pulled her to the edge of the table by her thighs, and leaned in to bite hard at her neck.

When she yelled and arched her back he only laughed, “Yeah – fucking hurts doesn’t it?”

She pushed him off her with a groan, “You’re such an arsehole. Fine. We can finish this later but we’d better get to that meeting.”

 

 

Once Cronus had slapped a grey plaster over his neck and Porrim had washed the blood from around her mouth they went to tell Meulin where they were going – only to have her gasp and clap her hands over her mouth.

“OF course!! The Meeting!! Oh I totally forgot… Well I’ll come with you!!”

“You’re going too?” Porrim asked, looking at Kankri nervously.

“Yes!!” Meulin beamed, “I purromised Nepeta I’d be there!!”

“Right okay… give us one moment, will you?”

“Of course!!” Porrim winced a little at Meulin’s loud exclamation, but smiled sweetly before pulling Cronus and Kankri to one side.

“Kankri do you think you could-”

He was already signing _“no_ ” repeatedly.

“You don’t know what I’m going to ask,” she said exasperatedly.

Kankri scowled, but his annoyance was belied by the fear in his eyes.

“ _I’m not staying in that house by myself._ ”

Porrim pulled a face at Cronus, “We can’t really afford to have one of us stay behind…”

“Then come with us Kan.” Cronus suggested quickly, “We won’t leave your side, I promise.”

Kankri’s face paled and he tried to sign a response but couldn’t seem to find the words.

“Kankri?” Cronus said softly, “C’mon mate we’ve gotta get going, you’ll be fine.”

“ _I know. I just- I-_ “ he gave up again and didn’t object when Porrim reached out to squeeze his shoulder.

“It’s been a while since you’ve been out, huh?” she said quietly, and Kankri nodded.

“ _And… What if…?_ ”

“I really doubt that the culprit is going to be there Kankri, but if they are they won’t get anywhere near you before we take them down, right Ampora?”

Cronus nodded and took Kankri’s other shoulder, in lieu of holding his hand – which provided scant comfort now.

“It’ll be okay. Now let’s go before Meulin explodes with theories about what’s going on here, eh?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting is held to discuss what's to be done with the pair seeking justice, a visit is paid to Eridan (a so-far reclusive suspect), and a trick is pulled on Kankri that Porrim and Cronus believe reveals the culprit of the attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the monster chapter.  
> I made myself cry writing this part, points if you guess where.  
> Anyway -enjoy! Next chapter up within a week and and usual if you think you know where this is going... rest assured I still have a fair few twists and tricks up my sleeve xx  
> (ps: also as usual apologies for any spelling or grammar mistakes, I'll read through again tomorrow and try fix any embarrassing errors- just wanted to get this up as I've been staring at it for far too long!)

The meeting was in full swing when they arrived – in fact, things had got so heated that no one seemed to notice their little group at first.

Karkat was trying to restore order to what seemed to be a slanging match between Vriska and Meenah on one side, and Sollux and Roxy on the other – with multiple interjections, mutters and laughs from the gathered crowd.

“They’re out of control!” Vriska was yelling, waving her bandaged hand, “They have to be fucking stopped, just because you’re too cowardly to-”

“I’m not being cowardly I’m trying to help find a psycho which would _benefit all of us don’t you think_??” Sollux yelled back, his psiionics sparking from behind his glasses, ”it’s not my fault you provoked them into cutting you-”

“Provoked-!?”

“ _Could the disgusting rabble please shut the fuck up – like god forbid we might actually have a measured fucking conversation-”_ Karkat roared, and Dave and John behind him mimicked him, laughing.

“Oi Captor, just because you’re a conchputer whiz or whatever doesn’t make you speshoal – and it don’t make you irreplaiceable – so why don’t you sit your skinny arse down and-” Meenah stepped forward to face-off with Sollux, but Roxy intervened, jabbing a finger at Meenah’s chest.

“Without him your precious shellphone would be useless so let’s not knock the mad haxxor skillz ok? And I know Cronus and Porrim have got a bit loopy but seriously from what Sollux says it’s no wonder-”

“Yeah you should have fucking been there – shit was brutal” Sollux cut in, earnestly, “and anyone should have the right to seek justice – back me up TZ-“

“ _Sollux for love of almighty shitting Christ could you not drag more innocent bystanders into this unsightly clusterfuck I am trying to hold a civilised meeting-”_

“Well I don’t give a fuck what you decide I’m going after them-” Vriska spat, her face flushed cerulean in fury.

“Could you wait until after the meeting, perhaps?” Porrim said, her low voice cutting through the noise of the cavern like a knife. “I’d like to hear what everyone has to say before you kill us…”

The heads of all gathered whipped round to stare at the small group. Cronus appraised the meeting – not everyone had turned up… All the humans were there – John and Dave stood behind the little raised dais; Jade sat with Jake and Tavros; Rose curled next to Kanaya; and Dirk and Jane in the middle of trying to pull Roxy back from the fight– where Sollux stood frozen, facing off with Vriska and Meenah who were staring, just as shocked to see them…

Flicking his head round to take in the rest of the cavern Cronus saw Rufioh by himself, leaning against the cavern wall, his wings fluttering nervously around him... Aranea was stood to the side with Latula – and as he looked she flashed a diamond sign at Porrim, who murmured “Mituna’s with Kurloz,” when he shot her a questioning glance.

 _Who else is missing?_ Damara’s dancestor was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Meenah’s...

Nepeta was sat with Terezi – but when she saw Meulin she jumped up excitedly and hurried over,

“You made it! Come sit with me and Terezi- uh, hello,” she added to Porrim and Cronus, before flashing a small smile at Kankri, “I hope those hands are working ok for you?”

Kankri signed back “ _(purr) perfect, thank you”_ with shaking hands and Cronus squeezed his shoulder.

Before the Leijons sat down Porrim asked, “Where’s Equius this evening, or Horuss for that matter?”

Nepeta glanced at Meulin before replying, “They’re working on their project because… because…”

“Me and Horuss broke it off.” Meulin said sadly, “Someone told him we weren’t working out as moirails and… well, I guess I can explain it another time.”

 _So no Zahaks either_ , that left… Eridan and Gamzee. And who knew where they were.

Cronus became aware that the spell hadn’t yet broken, everyone still seemed fixated by their presence- shocked even- _No_. They weren’t shocked to see Porrim or Cronus – they were shocked to see _Kankri_.

Cronus tried to look at Kankri from the point of view of someone who hadn’t nursed him through the attack and his recovery.

He looked… shrunken. He had lost weight due to his inability to eat, and the subsequent stress and trauma, true, but he also held himself differently. He wasn’t short, although between Porrim and Cronus- both tall, broad, and muscular- he always looked tiny – but he no longer held himself proudly, chest puffed out and chin titled up. Now he hunched in on himself, gloved robotic fingers nervously clenching over his chest and head lowered – raised only occasionally to let his eyes dart around the cavern.

Gone was the troll who was always ready to make his presence known – now he looked as if he was trying to hide with his whole body, and his experience was written all over his gaunt face – in the bags under his eyes, in the hollows of his cheeks and in the way he flinched away from any eye contact or curious stare.

_No wonder they’re shocked. Maybe they’ll understand why we need revenge so badly now…_

“Uh, hi, look do you wanna sit down or…” Karkat asked from where he stood on the dais, his voice lacking its usual gruff authority.

“Of course, sorry for interrupting,” Porrim said sweetly, sweeping into the cavern proper, but always keeping one hand on Kankri’s shoulder.

Porrim pulled Kankri down onto a stone-hewn seat to the side of the cavern and put an arm around him protectively. Cronus was too wired to sit, so he stood behind them and looked at Karkat expectantly.

“So, uh, well I guess you know why we’re here then?” Karkat began, without his usual fluidity of speech.

Porrim nodded.

“It’s been – what – two weeks since, uh, Kankri was attacked,” at the sound of his name Kankri shrunk down in his seat and stared resolutely at the floor. Cronus patted his shoulder. _Hold it together, you’re fine, we’ll get through this and then you can go home._

“It’s been 15 days.” Cronus said levelly, wishing that Damara had showed up so he might have had someone to calm him down if he couldn’t keep it together, “And we haven’t found whoever did it but we’re going to.”

“You’re going to get what’s fucking coming to you,” Vriska snarled, but was quickly shooshed by Terezi from across the cavern.

“The issue here is that you’re rushing into your revenge and attacking innocent people,” Karkat said loudly, to drown out any bickering, “I mean it’s clear that, I mean everyone can see – look Kankri is obviously a victim here-”

“He has been completely glubbed up. I’ll give you that much.” Meenah said, eyeing him critically.

“Yes, and so it’s understandable why you’d want revenge.”

“…He does look fucking awful – no offense,” Vriska added reluctantly, and again every eye was turning inexorably towards Kankri – eyes full of pity and horror. If Kankri could have sunk any lower in his seat he would have; Cronus could feel him burning up under his hand.

“Don’t all stare, jeez, like how would you like that?” Latula said suddenly from where she was sat with Aranea, then flushed teal as eyes looked to her curiously.

Kankri took the seconds respite from scrutiny to bury his head in his hands before scrubbing his face and signing frantically at Porrim.

“ _Can we go? Please can we go?”_

“Soon. Hold on _.”_ She whispered, then louder she asked “So you want us to change our methods?” turning her cool gaze on Karkat, who nodded.

“Attacking innocent people is fucking unacceptable – you do see that right?”

“Particularly if you’re _carving bits off of_ innocent people,” Rose added sternly, matching Porrim’s dangerous gaze with her own, “Because that makes you no better than the attacker.”

“I don’t think we’ve ever said we were better than them,” Porrim replied archly, “But I take your point. We’ll be more careful. But we’re not stopping.”

“Just – look I said I’ll help you gather information – and _no I’m not hacking anyone’s private files before you ask_ ,” Sollux said, with the world-weariness of a beleaguered technician, “So how about you double check your hunches with me before you go running off half cocked. I can at least tell you if someone was online and where at the time, which is a start.”

“Yes, or, you know, you could consider doing a character check with people who actually know the person first,” Jane added, glaring at them with one hand on her hip, the other twitching as though reaching for a weapon in her mind.

“What wonderful suggestions. Consider them noted.” Porrim’s voice was icy cold, and Cronus pinched her shoulder hard. _Let’s not start anything while Kankri’s here…_

“So was that everything or – Vriska have you got something to say to us?” Cronus asked carefully, banking on the others being there to divert her. _Honestly just seeing Kan took the wind out of most of their sails so no one’s likely to come hunting us down… Spider-bitches though…_

“Yeah I have something to say, FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!” she yelled, flicking her middle fingers up at Cronus’ face. “If they’re allowed to take revenge on whoever’s wronged them I should be allowed to take revenge for _this_.” She waved her maimed hand again, and Porrim stood up sharply.

“I thought we settled this – Meenah?”

“I ain’t the bass of her.” She said, shrugging.

“Yeah I’m not like your Ampora, I don’t just do everything I’m told by my quadrant-mates.”

Cronus felt his blood begin to boil _not here not now keep it together-_

“So what? You’re going to cut our fingers off as payback? Right here and now?” he asked, deadpan.

“ _No_ ,” Karkat snarled, “No bloodshed at meetings. In fact no bloodshed at all ideally but that’s probably too pan-shattering a concept for our merry band of nut-jobs. Vriska let’s face it you probably deserved what you got – let’s not turn this into a war. Porrim and Cronus should just finish what they’re doing and then we can put this heinous fucking mess behind us.”

There were a lot of mutters at Karkat’s words, but people seemed to see the sense in it. _If we keep attacking one another there’ll be no one left…_

“Okay, that’s enough, let’s go,” Cronus hissed at Porrim and she nodded, helping a shellshocked Kankri to his feet.

Before they could leave, however, Dirk –silent up until then – stepped forward and called out, “Stop – wait a second.”

Cronus stopped but Kankri didn’t turn back to look at Dirk, pushing insistently at Cronus’ stomach as if he could push him out the cavern entrance.

“Kankri can I talk to you for a second before you go?”

Kankri turned terrified eyes up at Cronus.

“He’s not going to do anything,” Cronus muttered, “We’re right here.”

Kankri turned but clutched at Cronus’ shirt for support as Dirk approached. The human was tall and muscular, but now held himself hunched in and with his head bowed as if trying to make himself as small as possible.

_He’s trying to not look like a threat. Smart._

“Look. Kankri. I just wanted to say- I – I – Look I’m sorry I lost my temper with you at the last meeting. It wasn’t cool and I shouldn’t have let it get out of hand like that and I-” He looked at Kankri helplessly, “I didn’t mean for this to happen. It’s not what I- I didn’t want this… I’m - sorry…”

He trailed off, scratching over his strange tattoo nervously.

Kankri raised his head enough to look at Dirk and then held out a trembling hand. Dirk looked at it in disbelief and then took it carefully, almost reverentially, in both hands and shook it. He nodded at Porrim and Cronus stiffly before retreating.

Porrim tugged at Cronus to get him moving, “Okay, let’s get out of here before Vriska starts up again.”

 

 

Outside the cavern the evening air was brisk, but that wasn’t why Kankri was shaking so hard.

“Hey,” Porrim said, touching his shoulder lightly, “You did great and we can go back to your hive and relax now, okay?”

Kankri nodded, but then immediately fell into a crouch, head in his hands and sucking in whooping breaths as if he was drowning.

“C’mon Kanny,” Porrim cooed softly, stroking his back, “Deep breaths, let’s get you out of here.”

Kankri allowed Porrim to help him up and leaned exhausted into her as she held him in a protective one-armed hug. Cronus was surprised at how close he was letting her get – but then, Kankri had changed a lot over the last two weeks.

“You’ve got him, yeah?” Cronus asked, and Porrim nodded, keeping up a soft stroking on Kankri’s arm, “Alright well I’m going to check in on Eridan – since he’s still on our list and he wasn’t here… I doubt he had anything to do with it but I’ve gotta check.”

“Good idea – just don’t lose your temper and do something that’s going to bring that lot down on us,” Porrim said, jerking her head to indicate the group still inside the cavern.

“Stay calm, got it. You gunna be okay Kan?” Kankri looked miserable, shivering and clutching at Porrim, but he nodded and managed a half-smile. “Alright. I’ll be back later.”

 

 

Eridan’s hive was almost as far out as Dirk’s was, although by transportaliser it couldn’t have been more than six or seven hops. It was resituated atop an outcropping of rock in the middle of a choppy sea, with a slippery stone path connecting it to shore. The huge war galley cut an impressive figure against the horizon, tattered rigging blowing in the wind.

Cronus took the path so as not to drip seawater into his dancestor’s hive – but still became plenty wet from the salt spray that was thrown up as waves crashed into the rocky pathway and the enthusiastic whitecaps that broke over the top to soak his feet.

When he reached the ship he expected he would have to climb aboard and enter from above, but instead found a huge crack bifurcating the vessel and creating an entrance that would allow him to walk directly into the belly of the ship - which, after his fruitless attempt at finding some sort of doorbell or knocker, he did.

“Eridan? Hey chief you about?” He called into the gloomy interior, trying to shake the worst of the seawater from the ends of his jeans with little success.

The smaller portion of the ship was blocked off with wooden beams, but after passing through a makeshift entrance of wood panels and coarse sacking he found himself in a vast, chilly hold that seemed to include living room, nutritionblock and dining area all in one swoop – which, despite the evident luxury of the furnishings, still managed to feel bleak and empty.

“Eridan?” He tried again. The room was dark but for a fire in a cast iron stove at a careful distance from the curved hull of the ship, which illuminated an ornate rug surrounded by a few sofas and chairs.

All seemed empty but when Cronus got closer he noticed a blanket strewn across a sofa along with a book, suggesting Eridan had been there not long ago…

 _I guess I’ll wait_.

Cronus lounged for a while in one of the – clearly antique- armchairs and let himself dry off in front of the fire, but after ten minutes he got bored and started pacing around the chairs. Five more minutes passed and he decided he couldn’t take it anymore, setting off to explore the rest of the ship.

The level above the hold held cabins- some furnished, but dusty with disuse, others just empty rooms, or rooms Eridan had filled with bizarre trophies that probably meant something to him – but to Cronus looked like a load of junk. He found a few ablutionblocks and an impressive library, but no Eridan.

Climbing the next set of stairs he came across he found himself much of the same, and at the third and highest level he found the cabins empty and open to the elements, no doubt a product of the same ancient shipwreck that had cracked the hull.

Cronus surveyed the wild water around him for a moment, and he was just about to go back down into the belly of the ship and poke around again when he saw a flickering light coming from the captains chambers, located across the chasm of the cracked deck, and above the empty section of the hold.

_Of course. Obviously his respiteblock would be the Captain’s chambers._

Cronus rolled his eyes – half at Eridan and half at himself- and climbed down the side of the cabins to fling himself across the breach, landing winded and hissing at the newly-acquired splinters in his hands.

The doors to the captain’s chambers were still intact and firmly closed, but they opened silently at Cronus’ push. His dancestor stood in the window with his back to him – and Cronus would have called out, but the state of the room took him aback.

However lavishly it may have been decorated, the room looked as if a tornado had torn through it- piles of books and clothes lay scattered around, a lamp had been smashed into the wall followed by several trinkets and statues that were now little more than shards of metal and glass. His desk, an impressive thing of ancient lacquered wood, had been cracked in half, and although lights still blinked on the husktop that sat atop the wreckage, the screen sported a spider-web of cracks. Even the wallpaper had been torn and slashed away from the walls of the cabin, and several panes of the large, multi-paned window had been shattered.

Eridan stood gaunt and stiff at the window, looking out over the sea as if transfixed. He was clearly oblivious to Cronus’ presence; the hot wax dripping onto his hand from the candle he held; and whatever wound was causing a trickle of violet blood to drip from under his sleeve to the bare boards below. He had forgone any flamboyancy of dress and wore a plain black shirt and pants combo that offered little protection against the chill of the evening air, if the tremors in his limbs were anything to go by.

“Chief..?” Cronus began, taking a cautious step forward.

At the sound Eridan span, dropping the candle and raising his arms as if to aim a weapon-

_They disarmed him though, like with Gamzee –_

Then shifting his position quickly to prepare for hand-to-hand combat he drew back his fist to punch, equal parts fury and fear flashing in his eyes.

“Easy there chief it’s just me.”

Eridan froze for a second, then slumped, shaking with adrenalin,

“Don’t sneak up on me,” he croaked, then, “What do _you_ want?”

“I just came to talk – no funny business I promise.”

“What did you come to talk about?” Eridan said suspiciously, the hoarseness in his voice unmistakable.

“About – about Kankri.” Cronus said, taken aback, “Why else would I be here?”

Eridan blinked, then took off his glasses to fiddle with them nervously, “I- I don’t know. I don’t know why you’re here. What did Kankri do?”

Cronus stopped and looked at Eridan critically. His dancestor was tall and thin as a rake, but instead of the coiled power he used to exude he looked drawn and sickly – and deathly pale in the darkened room, the bags under his eyes as pronounced as Kankri’s.

“How can you not-? When’s the last time you -? It’s all anyone’s been fucking talking about…” he trailed off helplessly as Eridan wrapped his arms around himself and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Chief? Eridan - has no one told you what..?”

“ _No one talks to me,”_ he whispered, his words tiny and brittle in the frigid air.

Cronus gaped at him, “What do you – you mean-?”

“ _No one.”_

“Not even on pesterchum or-?”

“What aren’t you understanding?” Eridan spat, his voicing finally cracking as the tears started. “No one spoke to me in public so I stopped going to meetings, no one came to visit me- ever – and I didn’t want to annoy anyone on pesterchum so I thought I’d just leave it because they’d speak to me if they wanted to and – and- no-one-”

Cronus opened his arms and for once instead of batting him away Eridan fell forward and clung to him desperately.

“Sollux sent me a few messages at first,” he managed to choke out between tears, “because we- in one timeline- he knew-”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Cronus said patting his back softly, letting Eridan cry it out, thinking _it’s not fucking okay_ furiously in his head. He thought of Damara then as well and hugged a little tighter. _There’s only a handful of us how can we be so fucking awful at looking out for our own?_

The destroyed room made more sense now. _It’s hard to be a highblood and on your own_. _It’s hard to be on your own period._

“Come on,” he said gently, tugging his dancestor out of the carnage of his respiteblock and down to where the stove was burning in the cavernous hold.

They sat on a sofa together, but once Eridan had collected himself a bit he pushed Cronus away and sat with his legs and arms crossed defensively.

“What were you saying about Kankri?” he asked stiffly, but for once Cronus had to put someone else first,

“We’ll get to that- look chief-”

“Don’t call me that.”      

“Look _Eridan_ \- when was the last time you ate or slept or-?”

Eridan pushed his fingers under his glasses to press at his eyes.

“I don’t know. Is that important? I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“It’s okay,” Cronus went to reach for him again but his dancestor’s fins flared in a clear _don’t fucking touch me_ signal, “Someone attacked Kankri after a meeting about two weeks ago and-“

“And you thought it might be me because I’m a crazy murderer who can’t be trusted?” Eridan whispered, closing his eyes tight again as if trying to shut out the world, “I told you I don’t go to the meetings anymore I can’t bear it – why would I want to- ? You know some crazy part of me would like to think people might like me again someday why would I start going around attacking people?”

He was smiling as he spoke but it was a cold, bitter smile, and when he opened his eyes again the hurt in them was evident.

“I wasn’t accusing you of anything, I just had to make sure,” Cronus said carefully, _jeez this kid needs a moirail – or anyone really, just someone to talk to-_

“Great. Well. If you’re done?”

“You want me to go?” Cronus asked, standing and turning his head to find the corridor that would lead back outside.

“No! Wait!” Eridan’s voice was thick with panic and he grabbed Cronus’ arm before flinching back as Cronus turned to him.

“…I can stay for a bit if you want?” He offered hesitantly.

“Please.” Eridan whispered, hugging himself and flushing with what Cronus could only assume was shame, “Don’t leave.”

 

 

When he finally left Eridan’s Cronus could hardly breathe with fury and indignation. Sure, Eridan had fucked up in the dominant timeline – but so had Vriska, so had Gamzee – hell, everyone had done things they weren’t proud of – but no one else had been so brutally frozen out by everyone they knew.

Eridan’s hoarse voice – broken and scratchy with misuse as it turned out and _how fucked up was that?_ \- echoed in his mind.

“ _The memories from all the non-dominant timelines get cloudier and more distant everyday but I try really hard to keep them because in some of those timelines I didn’t kill any of my friends…” “I didn’t do it in all timelines – just enough of them.”_

Cronus had asked who his closest friends had been and Eridan had bit the words out, as if trying to keep his pain safe behind his teeth.

“ _Fef. But I fucked that up. And then I killed her. Kanaya. But then I killed_ her _\- are you seeing the fuckin pattern here? Karkat was maybe my best- but… but I don’t think he’ll ever talk to me again… and Sollux I guess – after the sprite debacle. Okay it’s stretching it to call us friends but at least he was in my head. He knew I meant it when I said I was sorry.”_

Once he was a few transportaliser hops away Cronus pulled out his phone and started furiously messaging people. He thought he knew enough of what had gone down to not go to Feferi, but Sollux should _fucking know better_ than to leave Eridan alone

CA: Hey.

CA: Sollux.

CA: I knowv you’re not fuckin asleep.

CA: Answer me for fucks sake.

tA: Oh my god what do you want?

tA: ii’m liiterally talking two poriim iin my other 2creen riight now about what ii know about gamzee

tA: why are you here two??

CA: This isn’t about wvith wvat wve’re doing

CA: This is about Eridan.

CA: Wvhy did you stop talkin to him?

tA: Why do you care??

tA: Waiit have you been talking two ED?

tA: diid you manage two talk two hiim wiithout cuttiing any fiingers off?

CA: Yes and I wvas the first person he’d seen in fuckin wveeks

CA: He’s losing his fuckin mind

CA: He said you used to talk to him but you stopped

CA: Did you fuckin forget about him or…? Enlighten me.

tA: What do you mean week2?

tA: Yeah ii’ve been checking iin on hiim every now and then

tA: iin a few tiimeliine2 ii 2pent a lot of time iin hi2 head

tA: which ii2 about as fucked up as mine iif ii’m hone2t

tA: 2o ii was worriied about leaviing hiim alone wiith that me22

CA: wvowv great fuckin job you’vwe done

tA: ii’ve been bu2y!! ii diidn’t realiise ii’d left iit that long…

tA: look me and roxy have been 2ortiing out pe2terchum, and 2alvaging iinternet and televii2iion from three fuckiing ciiviilii2atiions – as well as doiing tech for everyone two 2tupiid to u2e a computer

tA: not to mentiion the fact that FF and AA don’t 2top buggiing me for my preciiou2 time

tA: and what am ii? Hiis lu2u2?

tA: he 2hould have 2poken two 2omeone

tA: waiit fuck iis he okay?

CA: N8. He’s not fuckin okay

CA: and he didn’t speak to anyone because he didn’t wvant to annoy anyone

CA: said that’s wvhat he used to do and he’s tryin to be a better person

CA: just… fuckin talk to him

CA: or go see him because you obvwiously didn’t pick up on anything being wvrong wvhen you WVERE speaking to him

 

Closing that conversation he quickly bought up Karkat and Kanaya’s pesterchums and sent them similarly vitriolic messages. By the time he was done his mood was black and he could feel aggression itching under his skin that he couldn’t take back to Kankri...

 

 

When he made it back to Kankri’s hive the next day he walked in on a sign language lesson in the kitchen.

“Well look what the purrbeast dragged in,” Porrim said, her voice sharp, but looking strangely relieved to see him.

“Did you get my message?”

“Yes. Damara. Interesting… So are you two moirails now or…?”

“Kind of… Not exactly… I dunno. You finished prying into my business?” he signed, “ _Sorry for interrupting,”_ to Meulin, who just smiled.

“Not a problem!! Do you want to join us!?”

“Sure,” Cronus slid into the seat between Meulin and Porrim and concentrated on Meulin’s hands.

_“I was just saying that I’m impressed with how quickly Kankri is learning – all of you really!”_

“Well it helps to not have a head full of nip all the time.” Porrim muttered, and Meulin’s face dropped a little, clearly catching the movement of her lips.

Kankri scowled at Porrim and Cronus pinched her knee under the table.

 _“Thank you, you’re a very good teacher,”_ Kankri signed quickly and added, “ _Are you feeling okay – you seem a bit distracted today.”_

Cronus hadn’t noticed anything, but then he supposed Kankri and Meulin had spent a lot of time together recently.

“ _Oh it’s just… Well I’m sad about losing Horuss and I’m worried about Kurloz – he has to eat now he’s alive but he won’t take the stitches out of his mouth. He can’t live on soup! He’s a big guy but he’s getting so weak-”_

Cronus couldn’t follow all the signs, and hearing about Kurloz had sparked a memory…

“Surely this is something for his moirail to deal with – or is that a sore subject?” Porrim muttered – and Cronus wasn’t sure if Meulin had caught it or not, but he wasted no time in yanking Porrim to her feet and pushing her into the living room, the memory forgotten.

“ _Carry on without us,”_ he signed at Kankri and Meulin and then turned to face a sullen-faced Porrim.

“What’s your problem?” he hissed at Porrim, “Meulin is nothing but nice to you – I thought you liked her-?”

“She broke up with Horuss,” Porrim said quietly, clenching and unclenching her fists.

“Yeah I know- oh.” _She’s jealous_. “Look she’s not gunna make a pale move on Kan – and if she does what are you going to do? Banish her from this house? The worse you are to her the more you’ll alienate Kankri.”

“I know.” She said miserably, “I just-”

“You’re stupidly pale for Kan. I know.” Cronus sighed

Porrim stepped back and twisted a handful of her hair.

“Okay, I’m being an idiot I get it…Take my mind off of this – what did you get from your dancestor?”

Cronus grimaced, “I… I actually don’t want to talk about it but he’s innocent.”

She nodded thoughtfully then decaptchlogued her notepad.

 “So that leaves…. Gamzee. And if it’s not him then we’ve got to go talk to everyone _with_ alibis because, well, who else could it be?”

“But Kankri didn’t freak out at the meeting,” Cronus reasoned, “So everyone there’s got to be innocent, right?”

“Mmm,” Porrim fiddled with the ends of her hair.

“What?”

“Well I’ve been asking around and everything I’ve got on Gamzee is inconclusive. Like – before the game he spent most of his time doped up on spoor slime- I know,” she said, at Cronus’ grimace, “Apparently his lusus wasn’t around much to tell him to cut that out – but by all accounts he used to be extremely calm and nice to the point of obsequiousness…”

“But he flipped out and murdered a bunch of people in, like, _most_ timelines right?”

“From what I gather he was under the influence of a corrupting power at the time, but certainly now that he’s sober I’ve heard he’s intelligent, very lucid, _does_ have some anger issues – much like any highblood – and _does_ have a cruel, manipulative streak going by what Terezi tells me… but honestly there’s nothing to suggest he’s capable of the sadistic acts performed on Kankri – let alone _inclined_ to.”

“And what would his motive be,” Cronus said, nodding thoughtfully, “I don’t think he and Kan ever interacted for any significant amount of time, and even if he agreed with Dirk at the meeting why would he go so far as mutilation as punishment for a – from his point of view- first offense?”

“And yet we can’t rule him out…” Porrim pulled a face, and sucked at the piercing in her lip.

“What?” Cronus demanded.”

“I think I know how to test if it’s worth going after Gamzee or not – before we go in guns blazing…” she said hesitantly, “but you’re not going to like it. _I_ don’t like it…”

Cronus cocked his head. _Go on_.

“Well as you said he didn’t freak out at the meeting, so either none of those present were a part of the attack – or not as far as he can remember, anyway. So… so I thought if you stood in the doorway or something with _these_ ,” she decaptchlogued a pair of crudely made horns that would look like Gamzee’s in a dim light, “Well, we’d know by his reaction. If he reacts badly we go after Gamzee.”

“No way.” Cronus said firmly.

Porrim sighed and nodded, “I know it’s kind of vile – as I said I really don’t want to do it but-”

“Yeah neither do I! Porrim we’ve spent two weeks trying to convince him he’s safe in his hive- it would be a fucking betrayal to undermine that –“

 “It might not even do anything,” Porrim said, cutting him off and pushing the horns into Cronus’ hands, “But this way we’ll know, now while Meulin’s still here do you want to come back to mine for a bit..?”

Her fangs were already sliding down over her bottom lip, and a part of him recoiled – but a much larger part growled hungrily and let her tug him out the door.  

 

 

They returned just as Meulin was leaving, but since they had decided to wait until evening Cronus had to spend the day smiling and talking to Kankri while the guilt at what he was going to do grew up inside him until he thought he might choke on it.

Once the evening set in proper, the living room was dim and the only light came from the blaring television set. Exactly as Porrim had predicted. Kankri was sat with Porrim while she stitched a design into a new dress, watching the last in the series of earth documentaries he’d been following, and didn’t bat an eyelid when Cronus slipped out.

 _He thinks I’m nicking out for a cigarette_. He’d be greeted with pursed lips and raised eyebrows on his return –

Except he wouldn’t. Because this time he wasn’t going to return smelling of smoke he was going to _purposefully try to provoke a fear-reaction in his matesprit._

“What am I doing?” he whispered softly to himself as he stood outside positioning the flimsy wire-and paper horns over his own.

Before entering the house Cronus took a deep breath to quell the nerves in his stomach, then slammed the door open and strode through the hallway to stand in the living room door, knowing that only his silhouette would be visible, lit from behind by the dying light of the day.

Kankri’s head jerked up at the noise and for a moment he stared at him with wide eyes, frozen, like an antlerbeast in headlights. For a split second Cronus thought everything was fine, but then Kankri’s mouth dropped open and a low moan that might have been the word “no” over and over again fell from his lips, his breaths became ever-constricted gasps and he scrambled back as far as he could into the sofa before bolting from the room, slamming his shoulder into the doorframe in his haste.

Cronus quickly captchalogued the horns and looked at Porrim, “Happy now?” His voice was thick with guilt and worry.

“Oh shut up.” She snarled back, “It worked didn’t it?”

She leapt up to follow Kankri – who had locked himself in the ablutionblock and was crying and gasping behind the door.

When Porrim tried to open it he screamed.

“Kanny, Kanny it’s me- it’s Porrim, you’re safe.” She called through the door, sliding down to sit leaning against it, “You’re safe darling, take deep breaths. No one’s here I promise.”

Kankri couldn’t seem to stop his hysterics and Cronus felt the awful guilt twist in his stomach.

“ _Please don’t tell him it was me,”_ he signed to Porrim.

“ _You want me to lie to him – tell him he’s seeing things? How will that help him?”_

_“He trusts maybe three people in the whole world right now – let’s not bring that number down to two!”_

_Also please don’t take him away from me like this, please, it wasn’t even my idea why did I agree to this-_

_“Fine. Go smoke for a bit. I’ll lie.”_

 

When Cronus returned Porrim was on the ablutionblock floor with Kankri, curled up with him on a pile of towels and stroking his face gently.

“There you go,” she whispered as his breath hitched and calmed from the awful sobbing gasp it had been, “There you go, I’ve got you Kanny, you’re safe – you’re so safe.”

Kankri’s eyes were closed and he was curled in on Porrim, so Cronus was able to sign over his head.

“ _Please tell me this wasn’t just a ruse to get all pale and pappy with him. Because that would be fucking despicable.”_

Porrim raised one finger in a sign anyone could understand.

“Go get some sleep,” she called softly after his retreating back, “Tomorrow we go clown hunting.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Porrim and Cronus get down with the clown. Just not in the fun way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha wow I never get as much done in a chapter as I think I can. When I started writing this I was like "yeah I can do this in five chapters". Now I think it's gunna be about ten/twelve... ┐(‘～`)┌  
> Anyway things get very, uh, Tarantino in this chapter so be warned (although this is tagged with extreme violence and you've presumably read everything else that's happened so far... still, take this as your warning).  
> xx  
> PS: I'm gunna have to write side stories following Eridan and Dirk-and-the-Zahaks once I finish the main story because I know EXACTLY what's going on with those guys but I can't just shoehorn it in here!  
> PPS: Ty again to Em (hoshinohanataba on tumblr) for editing bits of this, you are a star.

 

As soon as Sollux let Porrim know that Gamzee was online at his hive, they prepared to head out.

“Aranea says she’ll come and protect us from chuckevoodos if-”

“Not interested.” Cronus said firmly, checking his net for holes, “Just because she’s decided to be Mindfang doesn’t mean I have to be her fucking Dualscar.”

“She didn’t say that, she said-”

“She said she’d come along if I had a private chat with her or something right?”

Porrim nodded, testing her chainsaw and grunting in approval when it came roaring to life with the first tug at its chain.

“Exactly. She wants to brainwash me and use me for her creepy little fantasy – she said as much to Damara - and Dams told me.”

Porrim looked at him sceptically. “Are you sure?”

“Don’t look at me like that – I’m not making this shit up! She’s really serious about becoming _who she was supposed to be_ or something.  Which means she needs the right quadrants and apparently isn’t above using mind control to get them.”

“Oh. That’s...” Porrim bit her lip.

“Disgusting? Morally reprehensible? I mean, not entirely surprising going by what I know of Mindfang – thinking about it, Dams probably should’ve warned Rufioh – but then they’re not quite on speaking terms right now… look, do you see why I’d rather risk the chucklevoodoos?”

Porrim sighed, “Okay, fine, I won’t force you into close quarters with Aranea if she really has some weird power-trip fantasy thing going on-”

“Judging by what happened last time, I’d say that’s pretty obvious-”

“So let’s hope the chucklevoodoos don’t impair us too much. I might have to have a chat with Aranea about this later…” she paused and frowned at him, “No trident?”

“Meenah took it.” Cronus scowled at the memory, “I’ll be fine.”

 

 

Meulin came by with a new blend of tea she had alchemised with Rose and Nepeta, so they slipped out the back door while she was talking animatedly to Kankri about it, unwilling to tell Kankri exactly where they were going in case he had another panic attack.

“So Gamzee… he’s just been… lurking around on this planet?” Cronus asked as they stepped onto the first transportaliser plate.

“Some people visit him, and he’s been at a lot of the meetings and gatherings – but everyone’s quite wary of him considering what he did in most timelines. He’s sober and in control of his faculties, but, well, no one’s quite sure what he’s capable of.” Porrim said, matter-of-factly.

“Well we found out the hard way, didn’t we?” The image of Kankri’s terrified scramble from the room at the sight of Gamzee’s horns wasn’t going to leave Cronus’ mind any time soon.

“Someone told me he can’t die,” Porrim remarked as they jogged through the thick forest they had materialised in.

“Well we agreed not to kill each other,” Cronus said, grinning evilly at Porrim, “But as long as he can suffer…”

 

 

Gamzee’s hive was a dilapidated, sprawling stricture they found on the same strip of coast they had hid when Meenah had been chasing them.

The door wasn’t locked – it wasn’t even shut, just banging open in the wind, and the moment they got within a few feet of it a deep, bone-chilling fear settled in Cronus’ stomach.

“ _Please tell me you feel that too_?” he signed, and the clench of Porrim’s jaw and the sweat-shine off her forehead told him what he needed to know before she replied with “ _Yes.”_

The aura of chucklevoodoos got worse when they pushed inside, with black figures looming in Cronus’ peripheral vision, making him whip around, gasping.

“ _Try to relax_ ,” Porrim signed, her stoicism belied by the horrified tears slipping from the corners of her eyes and the hitching of her breath. “ _We’ll stop him doing it soon.”_

Cronus nodded, but the fact that Gamzee was doing it at all surely meant that he knew they were there…

A floorboard creaked under their feet and they froze, peering into the gloom of the large room, the bare floor boards of which were strewn with clothes and objects and half-eaten meals.

Porrim cautiously let her skin brighten until she cast a modicum of light.

At first there was nothing. But then bright orange eyes, glowing and dangerous, materialised out of the shadows

 “Well ain’t that a mother fuckin miracle,” Gamzee growled, “You’re all up and shining like a mother fuckin glowbug.”

He stepped forwards, decaptchaloguing two formidable clubs that should have been confiscated from him, and swung them with lazy ease.

“So. Glow-sis and Fish-bro. Here I’ve been all a-waitin’ on you. What took you so long?”

Porrim opened her mouth in a furious snarl and leapt for him, chainsaw appearing in her hands and revving hungrily. For a long moment it looked as if he would just stand and let the rotating blades slice him in half – but at the last second he stepped aside and brought a club swinging up in an arc that, at its zenith, landed with a resounding _crack_ against Porrim’s horns, sending her flying back into the wall.

Gamzee laughed, but Cronus was already there, landing two hard punches - one shattering teeth in that infuriatingly dopey smile and one breaking the clown’s nose for good measure.

Gamzee staggered backwards, spitting blood and teeth, but as Cronus went to land another punch a hand snapped up to catch his fist and the other bought round a club to smash into Cronus’ side, sending him crashing to the ground.

He gasped as all air left his lungs, and from the crunching, stabbing pain in his side Cronus figured Gamzee had broken a few of his ribs at least. He took scarce comfort in the fact that the nagging fear at the edges of his mind seemed to have dissapeared.

_Hard to keep up those chucklevoodoos and fight at the same time, huh? Well we’ll just have to keep fuckin’ fighting then._

He focused on his anger as he battled with the pain keeping him prostate, and watched with satisfaction as Porrim, back on her feet, bought the chainsaw round in a deadly arc that forced Gamzee to drop like a dead weight to the floor to avoid being bisected again.

The next swing of the chainsaw buried itself between the clown’s legs – where his groin had been just a second ago. But the moments spent wrestling the weapon out of the floor allowed Gamzee to roll backwards and then use the coiled power of his muscles to kick Porrim hard in the chest with both feet, sending her careening back, jade blood spurting from her lips.

Cronus staggered upright as Gamzee reached for the chainsaw. The moment he touched it, it became an ornate tube of lipstick that he discarded with disgust. As he did, Cronus, who had decaptchalogued his net and whipped it round quickly to make a rope, flicked the net around Gamzee’s throat. He dragged him up by the neck, forcing him to scrabble at the net for breath.

Gamzee aimed a few sharp kicks at Cronus’ shins, but then Porrim was there, punching him hard in the gut and removing the last of his air, making him hang still.

“Why did you do it? _How could you_ do it?” she hissed, grabbing a handful of matted hair and yanking it hard.

Gamzee tried to speak, but all that emerged was a croak.

Cronus loosened the garrotte just a little and Gamzee sucked in a gulp of air and then laughed, high and elated.

“Wasn’t me Glow-sis, but I’m enjoying the sport so far – been so mother fuckin bored on this planet.”

Porrim stared at him for a second and Gamzee laughed again, this time low and dangerous – then simultaneously spat a gobbet of blood in Porrim’s face and decaptchalogued a small knife to stab back into Cronus’ stomach.

Cronus grunted in disbelief as icy pain flooded his stomach. He didn’t notice he was collapsing until he hit the floor hard, bringing Gamzee down with him, still ensnared as he was in the net.

Cronus managed to roll himself out of the way as Porrim straddled Gamzee and pinned his limbs, but the pain in his gut was overwhelming enough to paralyse him. _Just keep breathing_ he told himself sternly as he choked out tears and pushed a shaking hand over the wound, crying out softly at the pressure.

Next to him Porrim had shifted so Gamzee’s right arm was pinned by the pressure of her elbow in a pressure point, and was holding his knife to his right eye.

“I don’t believe you,” she hissed, “All signs point to you so _why did you do it_?”

Gamzee gave her an insolent grin, “What did I just mother fuckin say? I didn’t have nothin’ to do with this shit but I’m certainly all up and enjoyin’ the work out.”

In her split-second hesitation Gamzee yanked his right arm aside so Porrim lost balance and the knife shifted safely away from his eye. Porrim yelled in fear as Gamzee reared up, headbutting her so she slumped back, stunned.

Gamzee almost got hold of the knife but Cronus dragged himself up and grabbed Gamzee by both horns, slamming his head down into the floorboards as many times as he could before the screaming of his ribs and stomach forced him to curl up, shaking and gasping, on the floor.

He had bought enough time for Porrim to pin Gamzee again, however, and this time she didn’t hesitate before stabbing the knife into Gamzee’s eye.

He let out a terrifying bellow of fury, but before he could do anything else Porrim leaned down and sucked the eyeball from its socket, then let him see it between her teeth before she bit down, jelly and blood and viscera spurting from her mouth.

Cronus grabbed Gamzee’s horns to keep him down while he bucked and screamed and roared the foulest of threats ( _MOTHER FUCK WHAT THE FRESH EVERLOVING FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOIN’ YOU MOTHER FUCKIN BITCH ASS MOTHER FUCKER-)_ but Gamzee managed to get an arm free again in his thrashing, and he used it to thrust back and claw at Cronus’ stab-wound, making Cronus scream and clutch at his stomach as his vision whited out in pain.

Gamzee reared up again, this time using his horns to stab into Porrim’s sternum, pushing her off him and making her gasp and cry out. Through bleary eyes Cronus watched her scrabble for the tube of lipstick desperately, but Gamzee had got to his feet and grabbed up a club. Just as her hand closed around the chainsaw he swung the club around and caught her a crack around the side of the face, shattering her jaw and knocking her out cold.

He turned back then, and he no longer needed chucklevoodoos to send a spike of fear through Cronus. Gamzee looked like a nightmare- his remaining eye was flashing red and furious while the empty socket of his right eye sent thick purple gore trickling down his face. And _still_ he was smiling through his broken teeth, a maniacal grin that suggested he would eat Cronus’ soul if he could-

Cronus rolled to avoid the club, which smashed down behind him, and used the adrenaline born of pain and fear to get himself to his feet. He dodged another swing of the club – and as the swing took Gamzee’s arm around across his body Cronus jabbed forward, landing a blow to his already broken nose.

Gamzee roared and dropped the club and they fought hand-to-hand – or at least Cronus fought with his hands, punching and jabbing where he could. Gamzee fought with _everything_ , scratching and biting, jabbing with elbows and knees, headbutting and spitting – and Cronus got in a few more blows but he was taking far more damage than he was inflicting, and at every move his chest and stomach screamed. He was shaking hard, coated in sweat and close to hyperventilating – but he couldn’t stop, because Gamzee certainly wasn’t going to, and Porrim was still out, lying in a pool of jade blood on the floor-

A surge of resolve helped him duck the next vicious blow and he grabbed a hank of hair and yanked down sharply, tearing out a handful and provoking a scream of pain from Gamzee. He used the distraction to kick down hard at Gamzee’s knee, taking satisfaction as the _crunch_ under his foot and the way the clown hit the ground with a startled honk.

Before he could feel too self-congratulatory, however, Gamzee got his hand on his club once more and bought it round to crack on Cronus’ right arm-

From the sound and the flood of cold, awful pain from his arm Cronus’ knew it was broken, and staggered backwards until he hit the wall, turning to curl in on himself, senses overloaded.

He must have blacked out for a second, because the next thing he saw was Gamzee struggling towards him on his broken knee, snarling and spitting blood, club raised menacingly.

Cronus had just enough time to whimper before the club came smashing into his own knee, his hip and his chest again. Through the ever tightening tunnel of his vision Cronus watch the world slip up – _no, I’m falling_ \- he thought woozily as he slid down the wall, sobbing openly as his shattered bones sent agonising, nauseating jolts of pain through him.

_Where are you Porrim? Wake up, help me-_

A heavy weight landing on his ruined hip made Cronus arch his back and open his mouth in a wordless scream, and then Gamzee’s face appeared before him, greasepaint smeared and mixed with bright purple blood. He sat in Cronus lap and stroked at Cronus’s hair absentmindedly for a second, while Cronus whimpered and cried as pain ravaged his senses.

“Y’all are persistent mother fuckers,” Gamzee whispered, yanking Cronus’ head back by his hair, “I told you I ain’t had nothin’ to do with what happened to Karkat’s invertebro, but you didn’t believe me. That’s some wicked distrust you got all going on there. And then Glow-sis had to make me all mother fuckin angry by taking my eye. I might not seem angry right now Fish-bro,  but by the Messiah’s there is the fury of a thousand fuckin suns all up in my veins.”

Cronus moaned as Gamzee let go of his hair and raised the knife in front of his eyes.

“Now this is probably gunna hurt, but I think it’s only fair,” Gamzee whispered, and Cronus screwed his eyes shut, expecting to feel the blade piercing one of them at any second.

But when the pain came it was worse than that – Gamzee didn’t stick the knife into his eye, but used it to slice into the membranes of his fins.

Cronus screamed and tried to buck Gamzee off, despite the jarring protest of his broken bones, and Gamzee snarled and bought the knife round to stab into Cronus’ throat-

At first there was nothing, a horrible black, empty nothing, and then Gamzee yanked the knife out and the pain began in a choking, suffocating spray of blood.

Gamzee laughed and raised the knife to slash Cronus’ throat proper, when the sound of a chainsaw revving behind him made him freeze.

“Mother fucker-“ he began, before Porrim’s chainsaw ate a path up into the flesh and muscles of Gamzee’s back, causing him to fall backwards and writhe on the floor, gasping and croaking in agony.

“W-what are you gunna do?” he spat at Porrim, “Kill me? Ain’t that against the rules we all agreed to?”

“You really didn’t do it,” her voice was thick, as she spoke through her broken jaw, dribbling blood and saliva and staggering a little as her head wound made her dizzy,

“Nope, and I think I’ve had about enough of this little game.” Porrim raised the chainsaw again in trembling arms. Gamzee managed a weak little laugh, “Sure you could do that, but I think maybe we should call it quits so Fish-bro don’t all bleed out over there.”

Porrim looked over at Cronus, choking out his lifeblood from the slash in his neck and unable to lift deadened arms to staunch the wound.

His terrified eyes met hers and the chainsaw disappeared.

Cronus closed his eyes and allowed himself to sink into the darkness already eating away at his consciousness. The last thing he was aware of was Porrim’s warm hand closing around his throat.

 

 

 

When Cronus opened his eyes again he had a beautiful ten seconds where he tried to figure out what beautiful silvery lake he was staring across, before he heard Porrim croak, “I think he’s coming to-” and realised he was lying almost naked on Kankri’s nutritionblock table.

And then the pain hit.

He felt like every nerve he owned was on fire and he managed a strangled scream before trying to lift himself off the table and blacking out again for a second.

“Cronus, Cronus, can you look at me?” A different voice – Rose’s – but what was Rose doing here if she disapproved of them so much?

His head was too cloudy to think about it.

“Cronus?” he opened his mouth to answer and a low moan escaped, followed by a bout of choked tears.

“Cronus I’ve hooked you up to a painkiller that I’m, say, ninety per cent sure is safe for someone of your mass and vitality, but it’s going to take a few minutes to take effect so try to relax-”

He was sobbing now, choking and gasping on the table and he thought he heard a sound of distress that could only have come from Kankri, before Porrim limped round behind him and ushered Kankri out of the room.

“I’m going to call Damara,” Porrim said, her voice coming slurred around her broken jaw and Cronus wanted to tell her to sit down and let someone else handle it, but another paroxysm of pain seized him and he cried out again wordlessly as his shattered bones and stab wounds made their presence known.

When the spasm was over he became aware of a strange numbness creeping over him, and he managed to gather himself enough to ask,

“How’d we get back?”

Rose dabbed the sweat and blood from his face as she spoke, “Porrim is very strong and had a lot of adrenaline in her system when she carried you back. Her exertion will catch up with her though - I expect she’ll be out cold any second now. If you’re talking about the neck wound, you have Sollux to thank for sealing it up. He’s next door with your dancestor. It was lucky they were together when Meulin sent the distress message; you needed a lot of blood.”

“Er’dan?” Cronus mumbled.

“Yes. He was happy to give you his blood – said he owes you, actually. I’m not sure what that’s about and you’re clearly not in any position to explain.”

“Kan’ri?” The numbness was behind his eyes now and it was hard to focus.

“You gave him and Meulin one hell of a scare when Porrim came bursting in here with you half-dead but he’s otherwise fine. He’s the one that called me, actually.”

Cronus grunted and tried to process the information. The drug must have been kicking in, though, because he could feel himself sinking back into the blackness.

He heard Rose say, “I’ve stitched up your stomach, and tried to set your bones but I’m really not sure what to…”

And then there was darkness for a long time broken only by a lucid moment where he awoke to find Porrim – cleaned up and bandaged heavily – sat by his side and holding his good hand.

“You ‘kay?” he managed.

She nodded, her jade eyes brimming with tears. “I’m fine – or I will be – oh Cronus your _fins_ -“

He winced. He’d almost forgotten.

“That bad?” Then, when the brief moment of vanity was replaced with more lucid thought, “Whadda you care ‘nyway?”

She didn’t reply, just squeezed his hand tighter and pressed her forehead to it. The darkness was coming to claim him again when her whisper cut through the fog in his brain.

“I’m sorry for the way I’ve been treating you. It’s not fair. And I haven’t been fair with Kankri either, I’ve – I’ve been selfish. I’ve been using you because I know how to – how to manipulate you. And I’ve forced Kankri to feel how I wanted him to – and this whole stupid fucking revenge thing was my idea and I nearly got us both killed because _I wanted to feel better_ about something that _didn’t even happen to me_.” She took a steadying breath and continued, “And you both mean a lot to me and I think I need to learn how to treat people better because I’ve never stayed with anyone for long or found anyone I even wanted to-“

A sharp voice cut through the nutritionblock.

“ええええ、それは十分で. 私の番吸血鬼の少女. Get out.”

 

 

When Cronus finally woke up, certain he was in control of his faculties, he was in Kankri’s spare-room bed and Damara was curled next to him, idly stroking his cheek.

“あなたがそれを行う場合は、再度、私はあなたを殺すでしょう”she murmured as he groaned and tried to sit up.

“If I promise to study East-Beforan will you speak in a language that isn’t going to hurt my head to understand?” he hissed, feeling the muted complaint of his stomach and chest as he managed to pull himself to a semi-sitting position resting against the head-board of the bed.

“Hmm. Okay deal.” She said, sitting up properly and offering Cronus a glass of water from the bedside table.

He went to reach for it and then noticed the cast on his arm.

“Oh.”

“Yeah you hurt real bad,” Damara said with a disapproving scowl, “どれどれ… you had broken ribs, broken hip, broken knee, broken arm, stab wound in stomach and neck – oh and your fins on this side…”

She touched each part of him gently as she spoke, but hesitated to touch the fins Gamzee had sliced up.

_Wait a second-_

“I can’t feel them,” he said, a burgeoning horror in his chest at the _nothing_ he felt to the right of his face, “Did – did they get cut _off_ or-?” He was trying to flare them in his panic but he couldn’t anything there to flare – _oh god-_

“Shoosh,” Damara said, taking his face in her hands, “No panic. They there. Just numb. Eridan said it was okay to sew them so Kanaya did-”

_Kanaya too – how many people were involved-?_

She must have understood the puzzlement in his face because she just nodded and shooshed him again, “Everyone gone now. Well nearly everyone. You been asleep for four days.”

_Four days-?_

“Relax or you break something else.” She kept up a gentle papping until he relaxed, enjoying the flood of calm her attention gave him.

“Okay,” he mumbled, “Can you just sum-up what happened..?”

She hummed in agreement, “You attack gamzee with Porrim. Then Porrim come back here with you. Then Meulin send out distress call on pesterchat. 明らかに, I never see it. Sollux see it and delete it to stop you two getting in more trouble with everyone. Sollux was with Eridan and they came together here. Help patch you up. You lost lots of blood so Eridan help there. Oh and Kankri call Rose because she help last time. …She not happy but she help anyway. And then later she call Kanaya to do sewing on you. And then we knock out to make you heal.”

Cronus nodded. _If I’ve just been healing for four days I should be okay to get up soon…_

“Don’t even think about it.” Damara scolded, as if reading his mind. “You not going anywhere yet 愚かな魚”

Cronus nodded, actually quite happy to lean back and be fussed over for a time…

But something was nagging at him,

“Wait what happened with Gamzee, is he..?”

_What? Dead? Angry? Coming for them?_

“He ok.” Damara said with a shrug, “Well he not dead anyway. Tavros was with him last I hear.”

“Is he gunna come back?”

“Maybe.” Damara papped him again and he closed his eyes as the relief rushed through him, “But he on good behaviour. I think he happy to fight a bit. I not know. Now shoosh I want sleep.”

She curled up next to him, her warm back pressed into his side, his pillows stolen to make a comfy place for her horns.

Hardly daring to disturb her, Cronus reached over and pressed two open fingers into her stomach.

She grumbled sleepily, but raised two fingers of her own to complete the diamond.

 

 

 

The next day Cronus managed to get downstairs to sit on the sofa, and was in the middle of a jam with Damara about Rufioh when Porrim walked in with a timid-looking Meulin.

“Meulin, can you tell them what you just told me?” Porrim said, sounding like a bad ventriloquist thanks to the layers of bandage around her head, holding her jaw in place.

Meulin fiddled with her skirt and spoke in a voice much more subdued than her usual happy squeal,

“I was just saying… I know I told you I was with Kurloz the night Kankri got attacked. And I – I mean I’m sure I was, it’s just… I don’t remember what we were… It’s foggy…”

“What did I say?” Damara hissed at Cronus, “That Makara boy tricky.”

Cronus narrowed his eyes, “Yeah – and if we were going after Gamzee because he had Chucklevoodoos and Makara horns-“

“Then we should have suspected Kurloz equally.” Porrim agreed, “Only we thought he had an alibi-”

“I’m sorry! I just- I didn’t even question it until recently – I really thought I was with him – but I don’t have any memories of what happened!” Meulin looked like she might be about to cry and Porrim squeezed her hand reassuringly before signing,

“ _No one’s angry at you – it’s not your fault. And you’ve done so much to help Kankri – not just teaching him to sign, but being there for him and talking to him… You’ve been a wonderful friend and it’s not your fault if you’ve been misled-”_

“But Kurloz wouldn’t – I mean I’m sure he doesn’t have the strength to attack anyone, he’s so _ill_ – and I- I’m sure Kurloz wouldn’t use his chucklevoodoos on me…” she trailed off, and looked miserably at Porrim, “I’ve been really stupid haven’t I?” She did start crying then and when Kankri appeared in the door looking concerned, Porrim ushered them outside telling Kankri to cheer her up.

Cronus raised an eyebrow. “Thought you didn’t want them getting all conciliatory?”

Porrim sighed, “I’m trying to be a better person. If he wants me as his moirail then, great. But they’re so close it’s not fair of me to just impose myself…” She shrugged off the note of sadness and, more briskly, said, “Well what will be will be, looks like we have another clown to hunt.”

Cronus winced, “Oh, great, because the last one went _so fucking well_.”

Porrim slumped into the sofa on Cronus’ other side and poked at her jaw gingerly, “Well if what Meulin said is true then he won’t be putting up too much of a fight… How are you doing?”

Cronus shrugged, “Fine.”

Damara scowled, “Not fine. Very hurt. Getting better. Need another few days before ready to fight again.”

Porrim nodded, thoughtfully, “That’s works fine since Kankri’s having the operation tomorrow – he’ll want us around-”

“Operation?” Cronus nearly leapt up in panic, but both Damara and Porrim grabbed him by the shoulders.

“He’s not dying or anything,” Porrim said, rolling her eyes, “It’s to attach the prosthetic tongue.”

Cronus stared at her, “The Zahaks have made a _prosthetic tongue_? How does that even _work_ -?”

“I don’t know. Equius is really talented when it comes to prosthetics it would seem. And before you ask no it’s not made of metal – it’s some synthetic material that will help him eat and _maybe_ speak. Though Equius told me to not get Kankri’s hopes up too much.”

“Oh.” He sat back, feeling stupid.

“What if Kurloz go into hiding while you wait?” Damara said darkly, “And you should listen to me more – I tell you it not just him. Must be at least someone else as well.”

“If there was another person – or persons– we’ll get that out of Kurloz.” Porrim said, her lip curling in malice, “Since it sounds like he can’t run we’ll have lots of time to get answers…And he won’t go into hiding because he doesn’t know we’re coming for him.”

“Not yet.” Damara hissed, leaning over Cronus to jab at Porrim, “Just wait til he talks to Kitty-Cat again. Maybe doesn’t even need to talk with her. Sound to me like he can just _get in her brain and see_ …”

“Can we talk about this more later?” Cronus groaned, pushing her back into the sofa, “We’re all stuck on this stupid fucking planet so we’ll find him – and whoever was helping him see I _totally listen to you_ Dams – _after_ we’ve healed.”

“Fine.” She grumbled, nudging him reproachfully with her horns, “Make sure you learn your lesson. We not in dreambubbles no more. You can actually die now.”

Her words took a moment to sink in, but when they did Cronus - wedged between his moirail and his kismesis while his matesprit sat outside - was struck by how much he actually had to lose now if he did.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kankri and Cronus find themselves alone in the hive and use this to their advantage; a visit from the Zahaks; Porrim and Cronus plan their next move...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is later than usual - but still within the week limit so no one has to know that I took two days out to marathon Orange is the New Black...  
> This is another monster chapter that got out of hand, so have a "calm-before-the-storm"-type chapter, and the rest will be up within a week.  
> Thanks again to Em (hoshinohanataba) for some last-minute editing :3  
> xx

Kankri appeared in Cronus’ door as he was just waking up, an itching for whatever pain medication Rose had him on hot under his skin.

“Hey,” he mumbled, stretching gingerly and rubbing his eyes – when they were clear Kankri was already at the edge of his bed.

“ _I would have come sooner. Damara wouldn’t let me see you…”_

Cronus laughed, “Yeah I’m told she gets a little, uh, possessive. S’all right. You’re here now.”

He pulled himself up to a semi-seated position, pillows cushioning his back, and reached out to ruffle Kankri’s hair – but he flinched at the contact.

Cronus jerked his hand back, “Uh, sorry…”

Kankri stared at him unnervingly for a second then signed, “ _You could have died!”_ and shoved him back into the pillows.

“Ow!” It didn’t really hurt but Cronus hoped to distract Kankri from his anger, “And… and I _didn’t_ , so…”

Kankri’s eyes were still furious, but glazed with tears, so when Cronus hesitantly opened his arms he wasn’t too surprised when Kankri held him tight, nuzzling his head into Cronus’ neck and breathing shakily.

“I’m sorry,” Cronus mumbled, stroking Kankri’s back, “I didn’t mean to upset you-”

“ _Upset me??”_ Kankri pushed back to sign in Cronus’ face, “ _I told you not to go after anyone. And then Porrim drags you in_ _nearly bled-out and drops you on the table like a-”_

Cronus didn’t recognise the sign Kankri used next, but he understood the emotion behind it.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, “We… bit off more than we could chew.”

“ _No shit_.”

“Hey – hey Kan, c’mon don’t be mad…” Cronus touched Kankri’s face gently and leant forward – ignoring the warning from his healing stomach – to plant a kiss on Kankri’s cheek before resting his head there, humming a soft little melody.

Kankri crossed his arms and scowled, but when Cronus put his arms around his waist and dragged him closer he couldn’t help but smile a little- and once the dam was broken he couldn’t resist kissing Cronus deeply, a purr rising from deep in his chest at the affection.

Kankri pulled away for a moment – mimicking the pout Cronus shot his way with a mischievous glint in his eye – and climbed onto the bed to straddle Cronus’ lap.

“Uh, careful there Kan,” Cronus tried not to think about Gamzee’s weight settling on his broken hip before raising the knife-

He took Kankri by the waist and manoeuvred him to where he couldn’t cause any damage. Kankri kissed him again, then laughed silently.

“…What?”

“ _Your hair’s so-“_

“Stupid?” Cronus groaned. Great. His hair hadn’t really been a priority recently, but still it made him self-conscious to think of it loose and curly, instead of neatly slicked back-

“ _I like it – it looks so soft. And I can touch it without getting grease all over my hands._ ” Kankri laughed, pushing his fingers in, then planted a kiss between Cronus’ horns when the lack of sensation from his new hands didn’t satisfy his curiosity.

“No – where’re my products-?” Cronus said, laughing through his protest, then wincing as various parts of him complained.

“ _Are you okay?_ ”

“Yeah I’m fine – nearly healed now I promise. Highblood remember?” Kankri rolled his eyes, and Cronus headbutted him softly – then pulled back when a thought struck him, “…Wait if I’ve been in here – have I been making you sleep on the sofa?”

Kankri shrugged.

“Kan – hey you can sleep in here with me now Damara’s gone home.”

“ _I’m sure she’ll be back,”_ Kankri signed, a dark look on his face.

“Well she’s not here now,” Cronus said suggestively, pushing his hands up Kankri’s sides and pulling him back into a long kiss.

Kankri made no move to pull away, instead shifting on Cronus’ lap to close the space between them, and humming softly into the kiss.

After a while of hungry kisses and ineffectual grinding Kankri pushed a hand between them and stroked Cronus through his pants.

“Uh, are you sure?” Cronus didn’t want to have Kankri freak out again – not because of something he was doing, at any rate.

 _“Do I look unsure?_ ” The eyebrow arch was classic Kankri and Cronus snorted and pulled the collar of Kankri’s sweater down to kiss at his neck,

“I guess not.” A few more sucks and bites at Kankri’s neck had him moaning quietly and when Cronus held his hips to grind up against him the noise he made went straight to Cronus’ nook.

“Shhhh,” he admonished, his words coming out as more of a groan than he intended “Not that I don’t appreciate it but- Wait, who’s in?”

Kankri smiled, showing jagged teeth between bruised lips, “ _No one. Damara, Porrim and Meulin have gone home for now._ ”

Cronus laughed and kissed Kankri again, “Alright, well, I’m gunna keep talking so you know exactly what I’m doing alright – and also because obviously I love the sound of my own voice-”

Kankri rolled his eyes again, but then nodded seriously, acknowledging that they both understood what Cronus was trying to do.

“Right. Well. Yell or- or better – tap me twice and I’ll stop straight away, okay?”

Kankri nodded, then ground down on Cronus impatiently. Clumsy prosthetic hands yanked Cronus’ shirt off and they kissed hungrily, finding a rhythm in the needy rolling of their hips.

When Kankri was looking at him with glassy eyes, and he could feel his own bulge pushing at the zip of his jeans, Cronus decided he needed to move, lifting Kankri off him and sliding out the bed to kneel on the floor.

Kankri started to sign “ _What-_ ”when Cronus grabbed his legs and pulled him to the edge of bed.

“I’m gunna take your trousers off Kan,” Cronus said kissing up Kankri’s thigh and letting his finger brush over Kankri’s unsheathed bulge before resting in the waistband. “Okay?”

Kankri nodded, his eyes wide, his breath shaking – but not, Cronus hoped, in fear.

“I’ll stop anytime you want,” he promised, tugging the trousers down under Kankri’s arse and then pulling them away completely, returning to the sensitive skin of Kankri’s inner thigh with tongue and teeth.

Kankri’s thighs shivered involuntarily around him and a hand pushed into Cronus’ hair.

“I’m taking these off now, too,” Cronus said, reaching for Kankri’s underwear. His bulge was already curling enthusiastically over the top of the waistband and when he pulled them away Kankri’s nook was wet and glistening.

“Can I..?”

Kankri whined and opened his legs wider at Cronus’ gentle push. He took that as invitation enough to begin licking up between the folds of Kankri’s nook, and reached a hand up to stroke his bulge, making him moan and curl over in pleasure.

“Is that okay? Can I do that again?” Cronus asked, watching Kankri’s nook clench as his breath ghosted over it.

Kankri yanked his head back by a horn and signed, “ _You’d better,_ ” his scowl melting as Cronus squeezed softly at his bulge, flashing his best shark grin.

“If you say so,” he whispered, before returning to licking and kissing at Kankri’s nook, taking pleasure in every moan and shudder he could elicit.

Cronus kept one hand stimulating Kankri’s bulge and, despite how much he wanted to free his own bulge and give himself some relief from the hot ache in the pit of his stomach, he used his other hand to hold Kankri’s hip reassuringly as sensation threatened to overwhelm him.

Cronus felt the muscles of Kankri’s stomach contract and shiver as he gasped again, and took a moment to mumble “You doing okay?”

Kankri made a noise that might have been “Yes,” but was definitely not a “no”.

When Kankri’s moans started to become choked off and the quivering of his thighs was unmistakeable Cronus decaptchalogued a bucket and pulled Kankri from the bed to kneel over it.

Cronus put Kankri’s hands on his broad shoulders for support, then leant down to take Kankri’s bulge in his mouth, humming around it and sucking, letting his tongue flick out to lick and taste, while using a thumb to stroke at Kankri’s nook.

When he came he was silent; Kankri arched his back and gasped, gripping at Cronus’ shoulders and trembling all over.

“You okay?” Cronus asked, licking candy-red genetic material from his fingers and around his lips.

“Mmm,” Kankri hummed, a noise Cronus took to mean “yes” as Kankri slumped into him, exhausted.

“C’mon, come help me into the ablutiontrap – I’m an invalid,” Cronus said, getting rid of the bucket and helping Kankri stand on shaky legs.

“ _What about you – do you want me to-?”_

“Only if you want to.” Cronus said with a shrug, “I’m capable of sorting myself out – that’s practically what ablutiontraps are _for”_

Kankri laughed, “ _Gross. So gross._ ”

“Yeah? Well I guess I’m the one with genetic material in my hair…”

 

 

Later, curled on the sofa Cronus asked, “So when’s Porrim getting back – I assume she’s going to be here for when you – wait – more importantly when are the Zahaks getting here?”

Kankri sat up so Cronus could see his hands and signed, “ _Porrim said she’d be here after lunch, the Zahaks will be here a bit later. Damara wanted to go home for… some reason she said in East Beforan that I didn’t catch-”_ Cronus snorted, “ _And Meulin… Meulin wanted to go and think… about things. That’s what she said…”_ he broke off, frowning

Cronus caught Kankri’s hands and kissed them.

“You like Meulin a lot, huh?”

“ _She’s nice…_ ”

 Before he could elaborate his husktop chimed.

He flipped the top, scowled and slammed it back shut before Cronus could see.

“Who was that?”

“ _My dancestor. He has a lot to say about you attacking Gamzee. He’s not very concise.”_

“Yeah seems to run in the family...” Kankri elbowed him and Cronus pouted, pretending to be wounded.

“ _Oh stop, you’re fine. And he’s got a lot of… mixed feelings to work through from the sounds of things. Apparently they were moirails in a few timelines-”_

“Karkat and Gamzee?”

_“Yes. And no Karkat’s not telling anyone about the attack, but a lot of people know…”_

Cronus bit his lip. That could spell trouble – particularly as Vriska was still so ready to attack them, and Meenah was firmly on her side… Gamzee would probably be well up for the sport if they offered too – and he and Porrim wouldn’t stand a chance against an alliance of highbloods of their calibre… or at least not for long…

Kankri shifted in his seat and turned up the television, snapping Cronus out of his gloomy reverie.

They sat in comfortable silence watching a classic troll film from their dancestors’ universe, carefully not talking about Porrim and Cronus’ obvious resolution to go after Kurloz as soon as they were well enough - although at one point Kankri inspected Cronus’ heavily scarred fin with careful fingers and signed,

“ _Isn’t that enough? Can’t you be done now?”_ with a hopeful look.

“We’ll see,” was all Cronus could manage in return, and from the look Kankri gave him it was clear he understood that the answer to the question was in fact _“no”._

 

 

Later the hive felt full to bursting with Kankri, Cronus, Porrim, two Zahaks, Nepeta- and an uncomfortable Dirk Strider all crammed into the living room.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to my workshop?” Equius said softly, “it would be a lot simpler and-” Kankri was already shaking his head.

“As you wish.” Horuss interjected quickly, “We can do the procedure here – we have all the equipment and I’m sure the nutritionblock will suffice if you have no objections?”

“It’s been used as a surgery more than a nutritionblock lately to be honest – I can’t complain,” Porrim said, only wincing a little at the movement of her jaw. “Kankri?”

He nodded and soon Dirk was carefully administering the drug that would knock Kankri out.

“Rose thinks she’s mastered general anaesthetics now,” he explained gruffly, and Cronus watched as Kankri went from being alert to flat out unconscious in a matter of seconds.

“Is that – is that safe?” He asked as Horuss lifted Kankri as if he weighed no more than a feather and started to carry him through into the nutritionblock.

Dirk turned a carefully blank face to Cronus,

“Look, if you don’t trust me, at least trust Rose after everything she’s done for you. She’s tested it thoroughly.”

Cronus nodded uncertainly and soon the nutritionblock echoed with the sound of Dirk and the Zahaks setting up for the procedure that would give Kankri a tongue once more.

“Did they explain how it’s going to work?” Nepeta asked brightly, looking between Cronus on the sofa and Porrim, pacing agitatedly up and down the length of the room.

“Because Kankri still has some of his own tongue left, the new one will be … sort of grafted on.” Porrim said, “Which will make it easier for him to eat. But there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to speak…”

“Well you don’t need to pessimistic,” Nepeta said with a reassuring smile, “The boys know what they’re doing and they’ve worked really hard on this – I think with some work Kankri may well be able to speak – just not as fast or as fluidly as befur.”

“Really?” Porrim said, slumping down next to Cronus on the sofa, “Oh that’s such good news.” She sounded as if she was going to cry, but after a moment with her head in her heads she looked up again and returned Nepeta’s smile.

“So Dirk’s been working with the Zahaks on this?” Cronus asked, “Why – why would he want to help us after we attacked him?”

Nepeta’s eye sparkled and she crouched up on her seat in excitement,

“Well you see they started hanging out after it turned out they all shared an affinity fur robots and hoofbeasts - _horses_ – and they started on this purroject, just fur fun-”

“Purroject?” Porrim asked, stretching out on the sofa and digging her toenails into Cronus’s thigh until he gave her more room,

“Yes! They’re making – oh it’s meant to be a secret so don’t tell anyone – they’re making these amazing robot hoofbe- _horses_ \- that you can ride and evfurything-”

“What fur – for?” Cronus asked incredulously.

“This human thing Dirk showed us – it’s called jousting – you have two opponents who ride at each ofur on horses while holding these huge weapons – and then they clash in the middle. The winner is the one who stays on their horse. It’s _brilliant_ – almost as fun as hunting.” She added, a bloodthirsty look in her eyes.

“So they’ve been making horses for… fighting?” Cronus actually had to agree with Nepeta. That did sound brilliant.

“Well Equius already used his robots for fighting – but they’ve been studying how real horses move and sound and act – they’ve spent ages programming them to act as realistically as possible-”

“And then they ride at each other full tilt and try smash each other off their mounts?” Porrim asked, her mouth twisting in wry amusement.

“Yep! It’s good for relieving anger and getting aggression out – but they also love the tinkering around and playing with metals and electronics and stuff like that which I find _so_ boring.” Nepeta said, rolling her eyes.

“So Dirk joined in when they started working on a tongue for Kanny? That was good of him.” Porrim said quietly.

“Well, yeah, it’s partly because he wanted to help create a good product – but also he knows that Equius and Horuss care about Kankri’s wellbeing and-” she looked like she might burst with happiness, “And Equius and Dirk are matespurrits now!”

Cronus gaped at her, “Seriously?”

“Yes! I didn’t even _think_ of Dirk as a viable option for my shipping wall – but then they started hanging out and I realised they were _purrfect_ for each ofur!”

Cronus was about say “who would have guessed the sweaty horse-lord could have pulled the ultimate cool-kid” but kept it behind his teeth, as Nepeta would have likely shot back with “who would have thought the creepy greaser could have pulled _Porrim fucking Maryam_ ” – or words to that effect.

“Anyway I’ll just check evfurrything’s going smoothly and then I’m off to meet Fefurry,” she said brightly, “I think it’ll take about an hour – maybe less… Anyway see you later!”

 

 

Once Nepeta was gone, Porrim nuzzled up to Cronus and put her head on his shoulder.

“…You’re thirsty huh?”

“Mmm,” she agreed, “Are you well enough for me to take from you?”

“Yeah. Now?” He grimaced, but he’d learnt it was better to get it over and done with than make her wait.

She nodded her thanks and pulled the bandage away from his neck.

“I’ll avoid _that_ side,” she said, touching the ugly scar left by the knife Gamzee had plunged into his neck. Cronus shivered again at the memory and then hissed at Porrim bit into his neck.

“Who have you been taking from the last few days?” he asked, half to distract himself from her bite, half to distract himself from the lingering fear of Gamzee he couldn’t quite shake.

“Aranea.” She mumbled.

Cronus groaned, “I thought she revoked her offer – you know I’d really appreciate it if you kept her out of everything.”

“She’s not a part of anything,” Porrim said, swallowing, “She’s just a good Samaritan – after she heard how badly we were hurt she gave me a bag of blood that I could drink with a straw while my jaw was healing.”

“That is… the foulest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Porrim just snorted and took a few more gulps before licking the last few drops clean and retying the bandage.

“There. I wonder how they’re getting on in there,” she moved to get up but Cronus grabbed her arm.

“Don’t go in there – haven’t you seen enough of Kan’s blood to last a lifetime.”

She considered, then dropped back down next to him and turned the television back on.

“So, Kurloz…” She began after a moment, sending a spasm of fear running through Cronus. He wasn’t ready to fight another Makara. Particularly one who had always kind of scared him – no matter what condition Meulin said he was in.

“Yeah – he could probably use one of those fake tongues, eh” He said lightly, trying to derail any talk of attack for the moment.

Porrim looked at him strangely.

“What?”

“Cronus, Kurloz _has_ a tongue.”

“…No he doesn’t-”

“After we came out of the dreambubbles – back to life – any injuries we had were healed. So Kurloz is still sewing his mouth shut, but there’s a tongue there – just as Mituna is back to his obnoxious – but fully cognitively capable – self.”

Cronus frowned, “What-? No wait that – that doesn’t make any sense – Meulin’s still deaf… And I’ve still got my scars-” he reached up to rub them worriedly.

Porrim shrugged, “We think that maybe some of us kept injuries that were linked to our personalities or sense of self – hence Latula’s ancestor still being blind and Vriska still having that robotic arm - that or it’s just completely random.”

“Who’s “we”? Who’s been thinking about this?” It was the first Cronus had heard of this occurrence, although both the number of people he socialised with, and the topics they tended to cover, had been small as of late.

“Me, Aranea,” _of course,_ “Rose, Kanaya… a few others. Actually, Rose thinks that once the game has finished loading a new universe, we’ll all be healed again. So Kankri may well get his own hands and tongue back, and my _damn jaw_ will heal.”

“Really? That’s great,” He sighed at Porrim’s expression, “I mean great that Kan might be healed – not great that your jaw’s hurting, idiot. Wait it still hurts?” _It must suck to be a midblood._

“All the time.” She groaned, “Rose thinks the bones were shattered – it wasn’t a clean break at all – and they might be healing strangely… Anyway back to the matter at hand; Kurloz.”

Cronus groaned inwardly. Wonderful.

“From what I’ve heard he stays in his hive a lot, with a few visitors – mostly Meulin, although I don’t know if that’s still true – but he does turn up at meetings… At any rate the odds are good that he’ll be alone if we go round.”

“When, uh, when did you want to do that?” Cronus asked, trying to sound casual.

Porrim was silent for a minute, then she took Cronus’ hand and, without looking at him, whispered,

“I’m scared too. But we’ve come this far. And waiting will only make it worse, I think… Would you come with me if I said I wanted to do it tomorrow?”

“Are we ready?”

“I don’t know, are you?” She turned to him and the challenge in her eyes was not one he could back down from.

“Yes. Of course.” Cronus croaked, “Tomorrow. Okay.”

 

 

When Kankri woke up he was groggy, and couldn’t seem to control his tongue. He held a cloth to his mouth to catch the blood and saliva that Horuss promised them would stop shortly, and as soon as the Zahaks and Dirk had left, fell asleep in his armchair.

“Kankri? Kanny you need to try stay awake for a bit,” Porrim called softly, shaking his shoulders, “Do you want to practise talking?”

Kankri looked at her strangely, then touched his hands to his mouth and smiled, “ _Yes_.”

Horuss had left behind a sheet of exercises written in his beautiful flowing script and Kankri began the first one, which required him to go down the alphabet and try make each sound.

“Okay, so try: Aah, aah, aah, buh, buh, buh, kuh, kuh, kuh,” Porrim said, then smiled as Kankri struggled round the sounds.

Some were easier than others, and Kankri flushed bright red when he noticed Cronus watching him from the sofa.

“You want me to go have a cigarette?” he offered, and Kankri nodded, grateful.

Cronus left them to practise and went outside _,_ thankful for the calming rush the nicotine gave him when he lit one up.

 _We’re going after Kurloz tomorrow_.

The thought should make him feel… excited or vengeful, or triumphant – but instead an icy fear was slowly gripping his mind. He couldn’t even call Damara because there was no way she would let him go if he told her the plan.

He put his cigarette out and tested out how the various parts of his body felt.

His arm was healed, although it felt tender – the same for his hip – the way Gamzee had smashed it had obviously not been a clean break and, highblood or no, his body was struggling to fix it. However his ribs felt okay, as did the knife wounds to his stomach and neck, and a few experimental punched and swings of his net didn’t make anything twinge or tear.

His scarred fins struggled to keep up with the movements of the good ones on the left side of his face – but since landwellers rarely picked up on fin-signals anyway he supposed he didn’t mind too much…

The worse damage that Gamzee had done, in fact, was to plant the seed of his chucklevoodoos in Cronus’ head.

_I’m scared of going after Kurloz because I don’t want to feel that paralysing fear again. Which means I’m afraid of… fear. These fucking clown bastards…._

After a while of restless pacing and chain smoking, Porrim joined him.

“How’s it coming along?” he asked.

“It’s going to be hard work, but I think he’ll get there… or I hope he will,” She replied softly, “Kanny’s gone to bed now. You should probably get some rest too.”

Her voice was even, but she was visibly shaking despite the relative warmth of the evening.

Cronus wordlessly offered her a cigarette and she took it, lighting up with shaking fingers.

“So. Chuckelvoodoos again…”

“Don’t suggest we take Aranea along.” Cronus said sharply.

“I wasn’t going to,” she snapped back, then, softer, “But I’m going to ask her to come over and be with Kankri – I can’t get a hold of Meulin and Rose and most other people that came to mind said they had better things to be doing. Which was either true or they just don’t want to get tangled up in our business –I can hardly blame them for that.”

Cronus opened his mouth to speak, but Porrim continued quickly,

“Look I know you don’t like her – and I understand why, I do, but she’s continued to be good to us – or at least to me. She helped us against Vriska and Meenah, she warned us of the meeting, she gave me blood – I know she can be snide and hurtful but I think she still wants to be my friend and she’d help me out in a heartbeat if I asked… Also the Sufferer and Mindfang never even met as far as I can tell – so you don’t need to worry about Kankri being swept up in her Mindfang delusion thing- and honestly who else would be better for him to practise talking with?”

Cronus nodded. He didn’t like it, but she had a point.

“I won’t leave you alone with her for a second when she arrives.” Porrim added sweetly and Cronus scowled at her.

“Alright, I don’t need you to be my fucking lusus.”

“Just checking,” she smiled, flashing her fangs, “I’ll ask her to come round in the morning – I’m hoping he won’t expect a morning attack.”

Cronus grunted his approval, “So… clown hunt round two?”

She met his terrified violet eyes with her terrified jade ones, and agreed:

“Clown hunt round two.”

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting down with the clown, pt 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha wow, this whole "updating once a week" thing is getting really hard to maintain now that I'm working full time - but I'm going to try my utmost to keep it up!  
> Once again - I know you've seen the tags and have (I assume) read everything thus far - but things get super graphic so consider this your heads up.  
> As before mentioned you can always come talk to me over on tumblr @ the fastestclockintheuniverse, otherwise see you (hopefully!) next week for another installment of whatever the hell this is :L  
> xx

 

Aranea came over promptly in the morning and sent Porrim and Cronus on their way with a saccharine “I’ll take _good_ care of him”, that made Kankri scowl behind her.

“You ready?” Porrim asked lightly as they stepped onto the transportaliser.

“As I’ll fucking ever be,” Cronus muttered in return, fisting his hands and trying to swallow the apprehension already curdling in his gut.

 

Ten feet from Kurloz’s door Cronus could feel the world warping. The air pushed against him strangely as if horrorterrors were groping through the very fabric of reality to rub against his skin. A high pitched noise whined like tinnitus in his ears, sending shivers down his arms and making his stomach tighten in discomfort.

Porrim turned to him, her face a mask of terror.

“You okay?” he croaked out.

“Fine. He has to pay,” she growled in return, pushing the door open.

“What is it with Makara’s and living in the dark?” Cronus hissed as they walked down a long gloomy corridor.

Strange creatures skittered across the walls in the periphery of Cronus’ vision and the air became colder and colder as they stalked down the passage way, until ice started to form on the peeling wallpaper.

“It’s not real,” Porrim said stubbornly, through chattering teeth and blue lips, “It’s in our heads,”

“Feels pretty fucking real to me,” Cronus hissed back, jerking as one of the skittery creatures brushed against his shoulder.

A little further on Porrim stopped,

“What?” Cronus whispered,

“How big was Kurloz’s hive from the outside?”

“I – what?”

“We’ve been walking down this corridor for at least five minutes – we should have reached a door by now… I think he’s keeping us walking in a loop or-”

As she said it the corridor bulged outwards as if taking a deep breath, and then shrank again, squeezing in on them, wooden walls cracking and splintering and slamming them together, crushing the air out of them.

“Oh nice one! Brilliant!” Cronus snarled as the walls crushed in on them inexorably, driving sharp splinters into their skins.

Porrim didn’t have the breath to reply, but just when Cronus was sure his ribs were going to break all over again the walls suddenly fell away and they were in a large, dark room…

Or at least Cronus was.

“Porrim?” he called softly, shivering again as something with far too many legs crawled up his spine.

_It’s not real it’s not real it’s not-_

He span and tried to sweep whatever it was off his back. Just because it wasn’t real didn’t mean he couldn’t _feel_ it.

“Porrim?” he called again, trying to ignore the note of desperation in his voice.

The high pitched noise had gone, replaced with what sounded like the low rattle of some great beast breathing. It came from all around as if the very hive was alive and Cronus had to push away thoughts of being eaten as the walls came crashing down around him again.

To distract himself he peered around in the gloom to see if he could find Porrim, or Kurloz - _or a fucking door_.

Where Gamzee’s hive had been cluttered, Kurloz’s was stark and empty, with support beams the only thing he could see occupying the cavernous room.

_If this even is his hive I’m seeing right now, and not some other illusion…_

A shadowy figure slipped between two support beams in front of him and he jumped,

“Porrim, is that you?” he hissed again, before decaptchaloguing his net, holding it out in front of him for comfort.

Except the next assault came from behind – steely fingers wrapping around his hips and pulling him back into a hard chest.

He tried to turn, to raise the net, but he found himself paralysed as the fingers squeezed in deep and a low voice whispered in his ear,

_WELL, LOOK WHO MOTHER FUCKIN CAME TO PLAY_

Icy breath ghosted over his scarred fins, making him freeze up so much he thought his muscles would snap with the strain – and there was something about the voice, too – it was like the words hadn’t been _said_ at all but has just materialised in his brain-

_I’VE GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU_

He was pulled back again by his hips and something hard ground up against his arse, Cronus couldn’t move but his mind went into overdrive, screaming,

_Please stop touching me, get off me, get off me, leave me alone, oh god stop touching me – no, no, no, stop oh god no, no, no, no, no – PLEASE_

His heart was hammering and a cold sweat broke out across his brow.

_DON’T ALL UP AND HAVE A HEART ATTACK NOW, I’M JUST GETTING SOME RIGHTEOUS POETIC JUSTICE_

Cronus blanched – _poetic justice?_ _Oh for fucks sake this is about Mituna_ -

 _Are these even my thoughts I’m thinking_?

_YOU WERE ALWAYS MESSING WITH MY DIAMOND, HOW DO YOU LIKE IT MOTHER FUCKER?_

The fingers gripped harder and he moaned as panic ran through his veins like ants under his skin – why did the touch feel so alien? Why did it burn and make his brain stutter so he could think of nothing but the unwanted sensation at his hips?

_Where’s a door- a way out – oh god stop, get off me-_

“Do you want me to say I’m sorry?” Cronus managed, fighting the urge to curl up and weep helplessly as his senses started to overload him with information.

_AND WHAT THE FUCK CAN I DO WITH AN APOLOGY? NO I’M JUST DEFENDING MY TERRITORY… BUT MY HIVE, MY RULES_

One hand started to move up his torso and horrified tears did spring from his eyes, but he tried a few defiant snarls even as his breath became sobs,

“Where are you?” _Oh god oh no, no, no,_ “This isn’t real, you’re not this fucking strong - we’re coming for you-” _Let go of me, get off me oh god stop touching me,_ “gunna make you pay-” _Please oh please oh god make it stop-_

_YEAH GOOD MOTHER FUCKING LUCK WITH THAT_

The hands let go and Cronus dropped to his knees, sucking in huge whooping breaths and trying to swallow the hysterics rising in his chest.

Then, remembering the figure behind him he span and fell onto his back – but it had gone, or, as he suspected, it had never been there in the first place.

“P- Porrim?” he whispered, his voice thick.

A figure stepped out from behind a support beam and he almost cried with relief – recognising the jut of her hip and the click of her heel on the hardwood floor.

“I may never say this again, but I’m so fucking happy to see you,” he said, pulling himself up off the floor and captchaloguing the net.

She had stopped a few feet from him in the gloom, silent and staring down at her feet.

“Porrim?” Her head snapped up and her eyes were glowing bright yellow.

Sher took a step forwards and suddenly her skin was glowing too, and her fangs growing longer over her lips.

“Porrim? You had blood _yester-”_

The rest of his sentence was lost in a whimper as her mouth fell open into an impossibly huge snarl, saliva dripping from her fangs.

“Oh _fuck_ no,” he whispered, snatching the net back out of his sylladex and backing up as far as he could, until he was pressed hard against the far wall of the room. “Porrim, don’t you want to try _Makara_ blood? Isn’t that what we’re here for?”

The urge to just bolt was rising, and he would have been ashamed if he wasn’t so scared.

_I can’t deal with this right now - once is enough, I’m not doing this again-_

Except – where were the doors to this room? And wasn’t the room bigger than this just a moment ago?

“Oh _no_ ,” he moaned, raising the net defensively as the walls shrunk and forced them closer together, “Porrim I really don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to. Just – just stop okay – get back – _get the fuck back-”_

She ran at him and he punched her hard in the chest, his fist connecting with a _crunch_.

She staggered backwards, but came on again immediately, snarling and snapping with those monstrous teeth.

“Porrim please-” he grunted, grabbing a handful of her hair and slamming her round into the wall. Her head _cracked_ into the wood and she shook her head like an angry beast, snarling and pawing at the blood trickling down into her eyes.

“Porrim?” he asked, voice shaking, “Porrim come on, that’s enough-”

“ _Not enough,_ ” the Porrim-creature snarled and leapt for him again, slashing with razor sharp nails to draw lines of violet blood from his chest.

He shoved her back hard and flicked the net out to ensnare her – but she ducked it and ran past him, grabbing a horn and putting all her weight into taking him down.

It was fall or lose the horn and Cronus gasped as he hit the floorboards and the air was forced from his lungs. As he wheezed and tried feebly to raise himself Porrim got on top of him and landed two hard blows to his chest and head that made him spit blood.

 _She’s not going for my neck, why’s she not going for my neck?_ He thought muzzily as his ears rang and his vision blurred.

She raised her fist again, her eyes strange yellow tunnels into her head, her mouth a gaping maw of fangs-

Some animal part of Cronus gave him enough adrenaline to rear up and flip her, getting a knee in her stomach and his hands around her throat.

“I really don’t want to do this,” he hissed, squeezing her windpipe with all the strength he could muster.

She arched her back and whined, legs kicking ineffectually and fingers scrabbling weakly at his hands.

Violet tears he didn’t realise he was crying dripped onto her face as her eyes rolled wildly in her head and her arms fell limply by her side.

When her eyes closed and she stopped bucking beneath him he let go of her throat – now bruised a dark ugly green and sat back.

“I didn’t want… Why did you have to-?” he began helplessly, but stopped when he noticed the little tube of lipstick in her hand…

_Did she have that a second ago…?_

The revving of the chainsaw sent a signal to his hindbrain and he flung himself backwards, then turned to get out of reach of the spinning blades – expecting at any second to feel the skin of his back splitting and being torn up-

Except it wasn’t the blades that he felt, but the hard butt of the chainsaw, crashing down into the back of his head and making the world go black.

 

 

 

Cronus blinked and tried to make the world come into focus… Someone was bending over him – a strand of long black hair tickled his cheek- _Porrim_ -

He tried to scrabble backwards but she grabbed his arms,

“Cronus? Cronus talk to me, are you okay now?”

He froze, “Porrim?”

“Yes it’s me… do I… do I look like me?”

Her voice was a ragged whisper, the marks of his hands stark against the pale skin of her neck.

Cronus tried to understand the question, then gave up, groaning and pushing his head into the floor.

“What happened, you went all ‘drinker-crazy-”

“No that’s only what you saw. I attacked _you_ because you- I mean I thought – you looked like a monster. And from what I understand, you attacked me because _I_ looked like a monster… It’s Kurloz – he was turning us against each other- but my head cleared when you slammed it into the wall so I guess I should thank you for that.”

Cronus groaned and sat up, the room they sat in was regular-sized, perhaps a little gloomy- but not the dark cavern it had been. It contained a sofa, a television, a games console and a stack of games clearly belonging to Mituna and a few other things you would expect to find in a livingroom…

“A quick bash to the head stops chucklevoodoos?” he said, incredulous.

“Apparently – or Kurloz got tired holding the illusions together –I don’t know how long this will last so we should find him as soon as possible,” her words ended in a squeak and she coughed, moaning and clutching her throat.

“Sorry,” Cronus muttered, gently holding his cold hands to the bruises to give what relief he could.

Porrim hummed into his hands for a few seconds, then sighed and stood, helping him up.

“Let’s find him before things get all weird and horrible again.”

“You know who we’re going to find, right?” Cronus said, “I’m pretty sure things haven’t _begun_ to get weird and horrible…”

 

 

Since they had apparently knocked the chucklevoodoos out of their heads, the hive was a normal, if ramshackle, hive to search – but before they had even left the livingroom Porrim slipped a hand into Cronus’ own.

He looked at her, eyebrow raised, and she flushed jade.

“If you even breathe a word of this at a later date-” she began hoarsely,

“Yeah I got it. My lips are sealed. Until I need to blackmail you or-”

She punched him lightly and he snorted, squeezing her hand and taking comfort in her presence as they searched from room to room, starting with the ground floor and working upwards. 

As they climbed the rickety stairs that lead to the third and final floor, the hall started to darken and their breath started to ghost in the air once more.

They turned to each other, and wordlessly made a decision, letting their hands fall apart and sprinting up the stairs to burst into the attic room.

It was a mess of clutter, weapons and clothes and various oddities strewn around, and in the centre, curled on a beanbag and apparently perfectly at ease, was Kurloz.

Kurloz smiled at them lackadaisically and stood, unfolding like an insect, his long thin limbs like the legs of a spider.

He twitched his sewn lips into a disconcerting smile and signed, _“Hello_ ”.

Cronus found himself lost for words, Meulin hadn’t been kidding – Kurloz was horribly emaciated, his sallow skin pulled taught over his bones, his hips and ribs all too prominent through the light material of his skeleton suit.

“ _Did you come to stare, or do you have something to say?”_

Porrim found her tongue first, and spoke in a low growl,

“It was you, wasn’t it – you mutilated Kankri, you-”

Kurloz shrugged and continued smiling serenely, the wideness of his eyes making the innocent expression unsettling, alien.

“Do you deny it?” she snarled, and Kurloz shrugged again, this time ducking his head as his shoulders shook.

“ _What. Is so. Funny?”_

When he looked up again his eyes were flashing like carnival lights and suddenly Cronus was-

 

_In Kankri’s hive. It’s dark, but the light coming down the stairwell suggests he’s in his respiteblock._

_I climb the stairs carefully, relishing the fear that is to come. This planet has been so mother fucking boring since the Angel of Double Death had been taken down, and the rage boiling in my blood has been eating me up something wicked with no outlet._

_When I slam open the door Kankri jumps right out of his chair, clutching at his chest._

_“What are you – you know it’s not really good form to just burst into someone’s hive without knocking-”_

_I know he’s going to work himself up into another pious rant so I pick him up by the throat, choking off his words, then throw him hard into the wall._

_He gasps as he collides with the plaster, then stares up at me, dazed, blasphemous little pink tears starting in the corners of his eyes._

_“What – why did you-?”_

_But I’ve had enough of his talking now, I want to get my own sounds out of him._

_XXXX holds him down as I pull his sweater off – he thrashes and wriggles and cries out hoarsely. He doesn’t know what I’m going to do but his body has chosen fight instead of flight and he won’t be subdued easily._

_It’s more fun this way anyway._

_XXXX hands me a knife and I carve the words I’ve been wanting him to hear for so long into his stomach – a jagged “shhh”._

_He screams, infuriated and terrified and agonised as the blade pierces his skin and I’m distracted by the brilliant candy red of his blood, it’s beautiful, disgusting, sacrilegious-_

_XXXX snaps me out of it and I remember there’s more to do. XXXX has a design to be followed._

_His arms and chest are held down, his face pushed roughly into the floor as we yank his trousers from him-_

“Stop!” Cronus yelled, slamming his hand into his forehead as if to beat the visions out. From the horrified look on Porrim’s face she’d seen the same thing.

Kurloz’s shoulders shook again and he decaptchalogued his club, long and studded with nails, wrapped with barbed wire.

_MAKE ME MOTHER FUCKER_

Cronus leapt for him, cursing his lack of a bladekind specibus, and ducked the first swing of a club – Kurloz was weakened by his physical state and that could be all the advantage they needed if-

 

 

_Kankri’s still fighting, although pain and desperation have turned his snarls to sobs and his thrashing is weaker now._

_We’ve got him held down, naked and spread-eagled. If we let him go now it’s 50-50 on whether he’d try to fight or just curl up and try to protect himself._

_The blood from his stomach has trickled down to mingle with the blood between his legs and I grip his thighs again as I shift position, making him moan and slam his head back into the floor, teeth gritted._

_Now I straddle his hips and take up the blade again, I know the plan – but hands or tongue first..?_

_XXXX prods me. Asks if I’ve lost my nerve. I roll my eyes and motion to his head._

_He’s held firmly, his mouth stretched open and he starts up this keening. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen but he knows it’s not going to be good._

_He’s right._

_Pincers grip his tongue and yank it up – I sever it with a quick flick of my knife and his scream is choked off by the blood that fills his mouth-_

“ _Stop_!” Cronus screamed, clearing his head just in time to get a belly-full of club.

The blow was weak, though, and although the various sharp accoutrements sliced at him, it wasn’t hard to come back from it and land a few blows on Kurloz – who staggered back, wheezing through his stitches. Porrim got in a few slices with her knives that he wasn’t quick enough to dodge and she got one blade to his throat-

_The small axe comes down hard on his wrist, but gets stuck halfway through the bone. Kankri chokes and screams through his mouthful of blood, but is too weak to move now. I raise an eyebrow at XXXX. I get a shrug in return. XXXX didn’t test the axe but seems unconcerned at the messiness of the job – I thought the idea was not to have him die, but I don’t really give a shit. The world’s going to reset soon anyway so what does it really matter? Also the profanity of his blood is captivating-_

_I’m getting distracted again so before XXXX can say anything I hack at the wrist until there’s just bloody pulp and a fractured bone – I snap it off hard over my knee and wave the severed hand at XXXX. They’re not amused._

_Kankri’s going into shock or something beneath me – shaking and stuttering, making this noise like,_

_“Puh – puh – puh –“ he chokes on blood again and vomits out a gob of it, a red so dark it could be black in this light._

_He starts up the “puh”’s again as I take his other wrist and I realise he’s trying to say “please”._

_He stops when the blade severs the other wrist-_

Porrim had dropped the knives as the vision swept over her and Cronus looked down at his own hands to find the net long gone.

Kurloz had retreated to a corner of the cluttered room, shaking and breathing heavily.

_BACK OFF_

Cronus ignored the jarring words and looked around for something he could use – the room was like a damn armoury-

What was that under a pile of rusted knives?

 _Perfect_.

_WHAT DID I JUST MOTHER FUCKING SAY?_

Just as his hand closed around it another vision flashed through him, only this time it was even worse because-

_You are Kankri Vantas and your whole world is pain- and anger and fear and humiliation but mostly pain – a white hot singing pain radiating from your ha- from where your hands had been._

_Hands are still holding you down and you want to scream but thick cloying blood is filling your mouth and throat, you have to splutter and spit it out just to draw in a ragged breath and it’s already filling up again, the metallic taste turning your stomach-_

_Which is also screaming, as every ragged gasp you take, every desperate move you make stretches and jerks the deep cuts there-_

_It’s worse because you had thought these people were you fr – well, if not friends, certainly not your enemies. You don’t understand what you’ve done wrong, but there isn’t too much space left in you to feel the betrayal, as pain is screaming from your every nerve. Every pump of your hammering heart is surely killing you, too, sending gouts of your forbidden blood to coat your body, your room, you attackers-_

_A figure leans over you and its eyes flash, sending messages into your head – you feel a deep, bone chilling fear settle over you and grip at the back of your brain. A scream is torn from you, low and guttural and you’re choking on your blood but you can’t stop the animal shrieks and wails as your soul is seized in terror-_

_And then the pressure is removed from your shoulder and hips and you try and push yourself back as far as you can, get away as much as you can-_

Cronus staggered and for a second could taste the blood in his mouth, could feel the ache of his hips and the horrible screaming pain of his wrists-

Porrim was down, head cradled in her hands and moaning “no, no, no, stop” in a low sob- and Kurloz was using the distraction to advance on her, club raised above his head, his thin, shaking arms barely keeping it up.

“Fuck you, you sick piece of shit,” Cronus spat, raising the gun he had found in amidst the clutter of the room and neatly taking out Kurloz’s right kneecap.

He looked down, shocked, and dropped the club, narrowly missing Porrim’s head.

Without missing a beat Cronus cocked the gun again and shot out Kurloz’s left kneecap, causing him to collapse, momentarily stunned by the pain.

Porrim scrubbed her face furiously and shook herself out of her panic.

She was on Kurloz, knife raised, faster than Cronus’ would have thought possible,

“Don’t kill him,” he warned quickly.

“Give me _some_ credit,” she snarled back, using the blade to cut the stitches pinning Kurloz’s thin lips together.

He let out a low moan and tried to raise an arm to stop her, but Cronus had gathered up his net and used it to tie Kurloz’s wrists together, and tie _them_ to the leg of a dilapidated dresser.

“Why?” Porrim said in a tight little voice, glaring down at Kurloz who _still_ didn’t have the decency to look too troubled by the situation. “Why did you do it? How could you _possibly_ -?”

Kurloz shrugged and Porrim almost screamed in frustration.

“Fine. Be that way.” She hissed, baring his chest with a flick of her knife, the thin material of his shirt parting before the razor sharp edge.

Kurloz raised an eyebrow, but his impudent expression quickly melted into a mask of agony as Porrim began to flay the skin under his all-too visible collarbones.

He hissed and groaned and tried to kick his destroyed legs, but didn’t open his mouth even as she pared back a strip of skin the size of a finger.

 “You’re going to talk,” she said darkly, “Cronus you might want to look away now,”

He tried, he really did – but it was like looking at a carcrash; something so disgustingly, awfully fascinating – as she flayed another neat section of skin, and then began to _pull,_ tugging the skin down Kurloz’s chest and leaving a horrible purple mess behind.

She started slowly, then finished with a _rip_ that took the strip of flesh and skin down to his naval.

Kurloz screamed, his lips splitting and bursting with blood as thread and needle wounds tugged and split the tender skin.

“Now Kurloz, I’m going to start scratching at this beautiful exposed flesh unless you talk.” Porrim purred, “And from what I gather you would _deserve_ that, so I may do it anyway.”

Kurloz groaned, his breath hitching as he tried to get his shock under control,

“Why did you do it?” her fingers were poised over the raw, weeping flesh and Kurloz opened and closed his mouth cautiously, letting his regrown tongue wet the cracked and bleeding lips.

“Kah-kah-Kankri nuh-needed a luh-lesson,” he managed, the words coming low and  thick through pain and the clumsiness of his unused tongue, “Not like it’s puh-puh-permanent.”

“What do you mean it’s not fucking permanent?” Cronus snarled, slamming Kurloz’a head down by his horns, much like he’d done with Gamzee.

“New yuh-universe coming. Everyone will heal again. No big duh-deal.” Kurloz said, crying out as Porrim pushed her fingers into the strip of his raw, weeping flesh.

“No big-” Porrim was lost for words, “That doesn’t give you the right to go around torturing and mutilating people,” she said, her voice low with horror.

“It’s nuh-nuh-not stopping you fuh-fuckers.”

Porrim paused and Cronus knew a dangerous moment of reflection might take the wind out of her sails, so he gripped Kurloz’s horns tighter and leant over him to get his full attention.

“Who was the other one? The figure you wouldn’t let us see in that – that vision? Who are you protecting?”

“Memory.” Kurloz whispered, managing an awful, bloodstained smile. “Nuh-not a vision, a _memory_.”

“ _Who was it_?” Porrim had gathered herself and pressed her knife to the exposed flesh of his chest.

Kurloz seemed to be having difficulty staying conscious; his eyes fluttered and he gasped as the knife made contact as though jerked back to life.

He looked blearily up at Porrim and Cronus, and seemed to realise a response was needed to stop the pain.

“Nuh-nuh-not muh-my idea,” he managed, eyes rolling in their sockets and his bound arms twitching and jerking against the net.

“Not what I asked, but okay. It was the other person’s idea?”

He nodded, but kept his lips pressed in their usual silent line.

“ _Who is it_? Give me a _name_.” Porrim demanded, leaning in menacingly until her nose almost touched his own.

He shook his head and Porrim nodded calmly, then reached behind her to squeeze hard at one of the bloody pulps that had been his knees.

Kurloz screamed and bucked and cried, but Porrim just waited for him to gather himself.

“Whose idea was it? Who was the other person?”

“I cuh-cuh-can’t,” he whined, his words coming slurred now as he fought for lucidity.

“Why can’t you?” Porrim demanded, pushing down on the raw flesh again.

Kurloz was crying uncontrollably now, but managed to spit out,

“Muh-muh-my hah-hands,” he took a few steadying breaths, “Muh-maybe can sign-“

Cronus untied the net with expert fingers and held the gun to Kurloz shoulder, ready to shoot at the first hint of a false move.

With the last of his strength Kurloz raised shaking hands and mimed “ _Mind control.”_

“Mind – who?” Porrim faltered, quickly coming to an unsupportable conclusion.

Cronus just stared down as Kurloz signed, “ _Mind… fang.”_

“Aranea.” He said.

Kurloz nodded.

“Ara- no. No she wouldn’t.” Porrim said, horrified, then – “Kankri – Cronus she’s with Kankri right now-”

Kurloz started to laugh – an awful, agonised outpouring, his mouth tearing and splitting further, his eyes wild and wet.

Porrim fell back, disgusted and pulled herself to her feet, surveying him critically.

“Well good luck dragging yourself downstairs to call for your moirail – who I think is the only person who might come to your aid just now.” She said, with a voice that could have cut glass.

She moved to leave, but Cronus caught her arm.

“He wasn’t controlled during the attack,” he said quietly, a part of him horrified at what they had already done, another part aching to finish the job _properly_ , “You felt the memories too – he was having fun-”

“What do you suggest?”

“Take his hands and tongue?” he suggested shrugging - while a voice in him screamed for him to just _fucking stop and walk away before this becomes something you can’t come back from, this is meant to be justice why does it feel so wrong, what are you doing-_

Thankfully Porrim shook her head,

“He’d probably thank us for taking the tongue again. And by the looks of things he’s doing a fine job of self-destruction without our help.” She frowned, “Purple bloods are susceptible to all sorts of… of…”

“Mental bullshittery?” Cronus finished, looking down at Kurloz still thrashing weakly and laughing in a growing pool of his blood.

“…Not what I would have said, but yes. By the looks of things Mituna’s been neglecting him… or doesn’t know how to deal with him anymore… Well whatever it may be, I think we’re done here. He might not walk again in this version of the universe, and he’s sliced up enough to call the blood-price paid don’t you think?”

The tension that had been holding him tighter than a bowstring released a little.

“Yes. Yes. You’re right. Let’s go.”

Looking over his shoulder at the mess they’d made of Kurloz, writhing and laughing and sobbing weakly in the gloom of the attic, made Cronus suddenly wanted to curl up and cry. The sight of the highblood suffering alone should have made him feel like justice had been done, but instead he was just overwhelmed by the need for his moirail – for Damara’s soothing hands-

Porrim met his eyes with understanding, his own horror reflected in her face.

 

 

 

Once they were a few transportaliser hops away they took a moment to hold each other, hands grasping the other’s face and foreheads pressed together.

“We’re fine, we made it,” Porrim whispered against his cheek, “We’re okay.”

“What about Kan – if Aranea-”

“I don’t believe – she wouldn’t – it _couldn’t_ be-”

Porrim couldn’t find the words and Cronus pulled her into a rough hug. It wasn’t the contact either of them wanted, desperate for their moirails as they were, but it would have to do for now.

“I know it’s hard to accept, but let’s face it – Kurloz wasn’t in any position to lie to you, and Aranea didn’t have an alibi and – and jeez she knows a secret way to Kan’s hive! After that stupid fucking showdown with Vriska – Aranea split from us, remember – and took a secret way back. .. Not to mention the whole trying to be Mindfang thing-”

“But,” Porrim started, and Cronus put a finger to her lips.

“We don’t have time for you to feel betrayed, okay babe? We have to get back to Kankri.”

She batted his hand away and managed a half-hearted “don’t _babe_ me.” They set off again, and arrived back at Kankri’s before long, the hive looking deceptively normal in the dim light of the planet’s weak sun.

 

 

“How do you want to play this?” Cronus whispered as they opened the front door.

“Casual, like nothing’s wrong, like – _oh._ Oh _no_.” Porrim broke off as they passed into the livingroom.

It was empty and seemed just as it ever was – but something on one of the sofa cushion caught his eye – was that? Were they Kankri’s _hands?_

Dread rising, Cronus followed Porrim’s gaze through to the nutritionblock where-

Kankri was hanging by his neck, a thick cord attached to the ceiling light above him, his feet dancing desperately to stay on the stool beneath them. The stool Aranea had ready to kick away.

“Not another step please,” she said softly, “I’m not going to hurt him, I just need you to hear me out without doing anything rash.”

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aranea explains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha wow I *just* made my self-imposed deadline of posting this within a week of the last chapter.  
> You have no idea how many hours I spent reading the openbound transcripts and trawling though the wiki to make sure I had my facts straight on certain things... hopefully it paid off!  
> I really cant promise I'll get the next one up within a week but I will try my utmost because you guys are so great - seriously, your comments fuel me to write even when writers' block has me staring at the screen for what feels like hours xx

Kankri’s desperate eyes met Cronus’ own and he opened his mouth – but before he could manipulate his new tongue into words Aranea jerked the stool under him and he blanched, trying to grab at the rope around his neck with hands that were no longer there.

“Aranea-” Porrim began, but Aranea held up a hand.

“Please, it’s Mindfang now, and one more step and I’ll let him hang so don’t try me!”

She was indeed wearing her Mindfang outfit, and holding a razor sharp cutlass to complete the pirate ensemble.

Porrim froze where she was and looked at Cronus helplessly.

He was similarly unsure of what to do, but he couldn’t just let Kankri hang there, _better get her fucking talking then, see if we can distract her…_

“So,” he began hoarsely, “This whole thing was your idea. Wanna tell us why you would something so fucked up? This doesn’t seem like you.”

“ _You don’t know me_.” She snarled, jerking the stool again spitefully, making Kankri cry out and choke as the rope bit into his neck. “You didn’t see what I got up to in the game – too busy, as you were, going around being a disgusting creep- but believe me when I say I am capable of a lot more than this – I am capable of everything Mindfang is!”

“You’re not Mindfang,” Cronus spat back, and Aranea just laughed,

“Maybe not yet - but I’m getting there, this is my _destiny_.” Her words were so fervent they gave Cronus chills, “There are a few things I need for accuracy, but I’m willing to improvise.” She looked calculatingly at Cronus.

“For fucks sake I’m not going to be your Dualscar,” he muttered, knowing that actually, if she offered to let Kan go free, he’d do whatever she wanted.

But what she said next was worse.

“Then what are you going to be Cronus?” she sneered, looking at him like something she had scraped from the bottom of one of her ruby red boots, “A human in the wrong body? That stupid little troll who thought he had some grand magical destiny?”

Her scornful laugh hurt him in a way he thought he was numb to by now and he flinched away from her gaze.

“You’re going to need _something_ after Porrim drops you – because she always does, you know, Porrim can’t love or hate anyone for long – isn’t that right Porrim?”

“This again?” Porrim asked incredulously, “I thought you were over it- you knew it was just a fling.”

Aranea didn’t give her a reply, just looked at Cronus knowingly, “See? Come see me when she drops you.”

“I’d rather die,” He managed, unable to look at either Porrim or Aranea in case he saw anything that confirmed the fear Aranea was provoking in him.

“That’s not what you used to say,” Aranea reminded him sweetly, “You used to hit on me every time I walked past –telling me all about your great magical destiny… Now if you were Dualscar, you actually _would_ have a destiny worth bragging about-”

“Can we get back to the matter at hand,” Porrim barked, her eyes fixed on Kankri’s precariously balanced form, “And stop all this destiny nonsense.”

“Oh but don’t you see – destiny has _everything_ to do with the matter at hand.” Aranea said softly, touching the silver signless pendant at her breast. “Because Kankri here could have been so _great_ , so powerful and influential – I really loved the story of the signless and his teachings, you know, they really inspired me during my time in the Dreambubbles… And yet we got stuck with _this_ version of Kankri Vantas.”

She reached up to stroke at Kankri’s face, “And you could never be what he was, could you? All that potential and you just squandered it.” Kankri tried to bite her and she slapped him hard, almost sending him off the stool. She grabbed him by the face again, this time digging her fingers in hard,

“You don’t deserve the voice you wasted on your endless tedious proselytizing,” she hissed, “So I decided to take it from you.”

Cronus moved then, snatching the gun he’s found at Kurloz’s hive and cocking it-

Before he had a chance to pull the trigger Aranea calmly raised a hand and sent him crashing back against the livingroom wall.

He pushed through the dizzying pain and tried to lunge again, arm raised to smash her with all the strength in his body-

He got two steps before he found himself frozen, and a glance at Porrim told him she was similarly imprisoned.

“I said I didn’t want to fight you!” she said a note of disappointment in her voice, “Honestly I’m on your side – how do you think a gun got into Kurloz’s hive? A troll who only uses the ridiculous _clubkind_ specibus for heaven’s sake? I wanted you to get your frustration out on him!”

Porrim looked shocked, “But you were working together-”

“Correction: I was using him.” Areanea said smugly, “I never liked that clown-freak, but I knew he was itching to release some of that pent up purple-blood rage… And honestly I thought the control I put on him mixed with his little vow-of-silence would keep me safe – but about an hour ago I got a garbled message warning me that he had told you everything… how did you manage that?” she frowned.

“Put someone through enough pain and they’ll tell you anything you want,” Porrim hissed, “You’ll find out first hand soon.”

“Yes, I’m _terribly_ afraid,” Aranea said, rolling her eyes, “Why don’t you come get me now?”

Porrim didn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing her strain against her psychic bonds, and Aranea snorted.

“That’s what I thought. Anyway that crazy idiot appears to be killing himself effectively so there’s no need for me to exact any sort of punishment….”

“So what I understand from your ridiculous villain monolouging is that you thought you were justified in attacking Kankri because he wasn’t exactly like an alternate universe version of himself that you admired?” Cronus said, his voice thick with anger and horror.

Aranea blinked, “…Yes. _And_ he was grating on my nerves with his constant interruptions in meetings and what have you – after the altercation between him, Dirk and Meenah, it looked like the perfect time to strike and have suspicion deflected from me.”

She smiled beatifically and Porrim snarled.

“I trusted you – I _defended_ you!”

“This was never about us!!” Aranea cried, throwing her hands up in frustration, “I didn’t know you and Cronus were going to get so wrapped up in this! Like I said – I tried to manufacture a system wherein you could get your revenge and closure with Kurloz and then drop it… I didn’t know he was going to _fucking talk-_ ”

Porrim did struggle against the psychic bonds then, and Aranea had the audacity to look hurt.

“I really don’t know why you’ve taken this so hard – now you’ve got him to reciprocate your pale feelings you’ll be dropping him by the wayside any day now – and anyway I was just teaching him a lesson. The universe will reset soon and he’ll be fine- I was honestly planning on healing him myself after a while but I forgot I no longer have my sylph powers.” She turned to Kankri and reached up to wipe pink tears from his cheeks with a cruelly gentle hand, “Maybe you’ll be a better person this time round, huh? Maybe you might even learn to be the person you were _meant_ to be.”

“You’re crazy,” Cronus said hoarsely, “That’s crazy – how could you possibly think-”

“Hey – what’s- what’s going on!?” Meulin appeared gasping for breath behind Porrim and Cronus, “I ran all the way here!! What did you do to Kurloz!?? Wha- oh!! Aranea!?”

She stopped and turned wide, confused eyes on Aranea,

“What are you _doing_? Let him go!!”

Aranea laughed, and made sure her next words were enunciated clearly.

“Oh look it’s my little kitty-cat accomplice.”

“Accom- what do you mean!?”

Meulin backed away a little, hiding behind Porrim and Cronus as much as she could.

“Well it was you I used to plant the gun in Kurloz’s hive – that lead to him getting his kneecaps shot off from what I hear, and, of course,” she added, “You were here for the attack, too.”

Meulin blinked. “I- what!? No I wasn’t!”

Kankri almost slipped on his stool again and Aranea moved to steady him, so Meulin couldn’t read her lips – but the rest of them heard her words loud and clear.

“Oh yes, distasteful as I find the expression, you were involved in a _Mobius double reacharound_ way – I controlled Kurloz and he controlled you. You were very good at holding Kankri down – very obedient.” She seemed to think of something and smirked, “Shall we call it a _meowbius_ double reacharound involvement?”

Meulin only caught the last bit, but the look of utter betrayal Kankri shot her through his panicked tears told her enough.

“No I didn’t – I wouldn’t – Kurloz wouldn’t do that to me!!” her words were more plea than assertion.

“No?” The word touched Meulin like a brand and Aranea nodded to Kankri, “Can you remember it? You fought quite hard at one point but the three of us kept you down - you don’t remember..? Well I suppose trauma does funny things to the brain… and as for a healthy dose of chucklevoodoos-”

Aranea had been too busy gloating to remember to psychically pin Meulin down and she barely had time to dodge as Meulin leapt for her, claws out. Before she could gather herself Meulin caught her a backhand blow across the face, then slashed her claws hard down Aranea exposed back, making her cry out and fall.

Meulin staggered back, crying and hugging herself – apparently shocked at her own actions, but Porrim and Cronus found themselves temporarily freed and jolted forward to make their move.

Porrim kicked Aranea in the side of the head as she tried to stagger upright to keep her too unfocused to use her powers and Cronus yanked her back to the floor by her hair, then stamped hard on her wrist to make her let go of the cutlass before kicking it away under the nutritionblock counter. Porrim decaptchalogued her knives and Cronus prepared to hold Aranea down – but in a fit of spite she kicked a leg out and sent Kankri tumbling off the stool to jerk and choke at the end of the rope.

“ _Kan!”_ Cronus barked, leaving Porrim to deal with Aranea and propelling himself up to grab at Kankri’s legs, hoisting him up and trying to loosen the noose around his neck.

“C’mon Kan, you’re okay, you’re okay, I got you,” he muttered desperately, as Kankri’s wild eyes met his and his wrists pawed at Cronu’s shoulders. “I just need something to cut the… _Meulin!_ ”

Her claws could probably cut the rope – only she wasn’t looking his way, she was transfixed by the sight of Porrim alternately beating Aranea and taking her blood.

“Meulin!” he tried again, balancing Kankri precariously on his hip and waving frantically.

She apparently caught the movement in her peripheral vision and looked up, her face pale and tear-streaked.

“Can you cut the rope with your claws?” He barked the words, while trying to keep up a soothing pat of Kankri’s back.

Meulin gaped at him, her hands were trembling and as he watched she started to cry again, shaking her head.

“Meulin, _please_ ,” he gasped as Kankri started to whine frantically, wrists beating lightly at Cronus, “ _Help him_ ,”

She looked like she was having a panic attack, or a breakdown of sorts, but she managed to take a steadying breath and nodded, resolved.

As she leapt and her claws severed the rope Cronus heard Porrim snarl, “ _You want to be mindfang so badly?”_ and the revving of her chainsaw.

Cronus ripped the rope from Kankri’s neck and held him tight to his chest, relieved to feel Kankri’s heart hammering through his shirt as proof he was alive. He had his back to Porrim and Aranea, but he saw Meulin’s eyes widen and Kankri suddenly jerked free of his arms as Aranea let out an agonised scream.

Whipping round he saw the fountain of cerulean blood and Aranea’s left arm come thudding down detached from the shoulder.

Porrim threw her chainsaw aside and snatched up a knife, holding it poised to pierce Aranea’s stomach – but Kankri got there first, knocking the knife away with his wrists and trying to say, “ _stop”_.

Porrim pushed Kankri aside roughly and punched Aranea hard in the chest so she couldn’t scream – only splutter and gasp for breath – then reached up to her horns, pulling insistently at them until the base of one began to crack.

Aranea’s skull was more likely to break before the horn did, and Kankri cried out again. He was slumped against a wall, shaking and hiding his eyes behind his arms, but still hoarsely yelling “ _stop, Porrim stop, please, just let her go, Porrim-”_ though his bruised windpipe and clumsy tongue made the words almost incomprehensible.

As much as Cronus wanted to let Porrim take Aranea apart piece by piece, he knew that Kankri couldn’t stand to see any more bloodshed, so he put his arms around Porrim’s waist and pulled her away as she snarled and thrashed – and Aranea took the second’s respite to flee, staggering and moaning in pain and leaving a trail of bright cerulean blood.

Porrim thrashed again in Cronus grip, but he hissed in her ear “ _Kankri. Look at Kankri”_ and the sight of him shaking and horrified made her go limp.

“Kanny are you – are you okay?” she gasped as Cronus put her down.

Kankri looked down at the floor, shrugging, but when Porrim lifted his chin in gentle hands he cried and hugged her to him.

“Are _you_ okay?” he choked out, and Porrim held him tighter, stroking his back and making soft little noises of comfort.

“I’m fine darling, are you?”

“She took my hands- _again._ ”

Cronus felt awkward watching their pale exchange, and he was going to leave the kitchen when a tiny squeak from behind him made him whip round.

Meulin was pressed against the far wall of the kitchen, hands clasped over her mouth as horrified tears fell from her lashes.

_Shit. Forgot about Meulin._

“Uh… How’re you doing?” he asked, signing along to make understanding him a little easier for her.

She shrugged, then shook her head, then buried her head in her hands again.

“I swear I didn’t have anything to do with – I would remember right? Kurloz wouldn’t – And I don’t know what to do – he’s hurt so bad and I want to help him – but Mituna and Latula are over there now – and he doesn’t even deserve my help if he made me – if he really-“

“Relax. Take a deep breath.” Cronus said, interrupting her hysterical babbling, “You can stay here for a bit if you need – or, or is there someone else you can go to? I don’t think you should be alone right now…”

Meulin gulped back her tears and looked over at Kankri – who flinched from her gaze and hid in Porrim’s embrace.

“I think maybe I should leave,” Meulin whispered, “I’ve got a lot to think about…”

 “Okay. Well. Just – Meulin you don’t have to go to Kurloz you know. You don’t owe him anything.” Cronus said awkwardly, trying to make sure his words didn’t come off as a pale solicitation, “He’s… clearly a fucking psycho and he’s been manipulating you – you don’t owe him anything.” He finished lamely.

Meulin sighed, “I know. He’s a… complicated person. But I used to love him so much, and I think a part of me always will. I’ll find someone else to go to don’t worry.” She managed a small smile through her tears and went to leave, before adding as an afterthought, “I’d like to – if Kankri would let me – I’d like to maybe talk about… what Aranea said… at some point?”

Cronus nodded and shut the door quietly after her, leaning on the doorframe for support. He suddenly felt drained – exhausted and filthy and sad and angry and-

“Damara’s on her way over,” Porrim said quietly, putting her phone back in her sylladex, “Can you bottle up whatever’s going on with you for ten minutes or so?”

He nodded gratefully at her and went to sit on the sofa with his head in his hands until Damara arrived.

 

 

 

“移動を停止! Stop or it go in your eye!” Damara growled, trying to get Cronus to stop squirming as she rubbed shampoo into his hair.

“Be _gentler_ then!” Cronus hissed back, “Porrim bashed me in the head with a chainsaw – it’s fucking sore.”

 Damara paused in her ministrations. “ _Gentler_? That right? It not _more gentle?_ I the one supposed to be bad at talk.”

“ _Talking_. Or maybe _speaking_ in this context. And I’m… like ninety percent sure gentler is a word.”

They laughed and Damara leaned in from where she was perched on the edge of the ablution trap to rest her forehead to Cronus’.

“Glad you okay this time,” she whispered, “Because I kill you if you come back half-dead again.”

“I know,” Cronus whispered back, “I think… I hope… it’s nearly over, okay Damz?”

She gave him a sceptical look but titled his head back to rinse out the shampoo.

Damara wiped the washcloth over the scratches Kurloz’s barbed club had left on his stomach – being obnoxiously gentle on purpose, judging by the smirk on her red lips- and then she let it trail across the scars on his throat and stomach left by Gamzee.

She looked at him critically and Cronus frowned, “What?”

“Well you clean but we got to do one more thing – and you not like it.”

“What?”

She leaned in and put her hands firmly on his face – and re-set his broken nose with a _click._

 

After Cronus had stopped wailing dramatically about his nose, he and Damara settled on the sofa, kicking it out so they could lay down and requisitioning as many cushions pillows and blankets they could find.  

“This comfy. それはいいですね,” Damara muttered contentedly, leaning against Cronus’ chest while he perfected the pillow arrangement around them.

“Mmm me too,” he agreed, hissing slightly as she found a comfy position for her horns – grazing his tender ribs at the same time. “Careful,”

“Mmm.”

They lay curled in comfortable silence for a while, lightly papping each other and enjoying the low purrs they pulled from each others’ throats. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but Kanny wants to be near fish-face.” Porrim said softly, appearing with Kankri in the doorway – both cleaned and bandaged.

“Fuck you,” Cronus managed, his voiced coming slurred and embarrassingly happy.

“Wow, we’ve reached new levels of wit and eloquence haven’t we.” Porrim snorted, receiving a middle finger in response.

“What crawled up your nook and died?”

“What- okay you’re back on form with creepiness at least – I’m, let’s say, _cranky_ because you strangled me half to death earlier and got in a few punches to my face too – when I already had a broken jaw – or did you forget?”

“Just… get in the fucking pile.” Cronus said tiredly, helping Damara to climb over him to the other side so he could have both Damara and Kankri next to him, with Porrim wrapping a protective arm around Kankri for good measure.

“How you doing Kan?” he asked, looking anxiously at the newly bandaged stumps of Kankri’s wrists and the mottled red necklace the rope had left around his throat.

He had to swallow and cough a few times before speaking, but he managed to form some clumsy words,

“Okay. Throat hurts. Miss my hands.” He curled in around Cronus and Porrim kicked the leg-rests on their side of the sofa up and stole a few pillows and blankets to complete the bed-like nest.

“We’ll get the Zahaks over later – or maybe tomorrow- and get them reattached as soon as possible I promise,” Porrim cooed, stroking his arm gently and resting her head on Cronus’ shoulder so she could tuck Kankri’s head under her chin.

On his other side Damara found a comfortable position for her horns and began stroking brush-strokes across Cronus’ stomach, writing words in East-Beforan characters that he couldn’t understand.

After a few contended minutes she absent-mindedly drew out a pack of cigarettes and Kankri glared at her from where he was nestled on the other side of Cronus.

“My hive. No smoking. Don’t make me kill you.”

Damara had to laugh at the threat coming from such a diminutive troll, particularly one with no hands and no way to move – caught between his moirail and his matesprit as he was – but after a warning pinch from Cronus she put them away and settled back against Cronus’ chest, amusing herself by blowing in Kankri’s eyes every now and then and then giving him her best “innocent” face whenever he shot a furious glare at her.

“C’mon stop, the days been too fucking exhausting for this – I just want to sleep a bit,” Cronus groaned as Kankri made to swipe at Damara.

“Seconded,” Porrim said yawning, pulling covers over the four of them and stroking Kankri until he was pacified.

Just before Cronus closed his eyes he thought he heard Kankri mumble the word “safe”.

“Yeah we got you Kan, you’re safe.”

 

 

The next morning the hive was full to bursting with the four of them; both Zahaks; Dirk; and, surprisingly, both Leijohns.

Meulin was clinging to Horuss like letting go of him would be the end of the world and no one had the heart to turn her away – not even Kankri, who was none-the-less a little uncomfortable in her presence.

“We told him she’s not a good moirail,” Dirk said to Cronus and Porrim in the kitchen as they set to the task of making enough coffee for everyone, “or at least not the right moirail for him - but he’s too kind-hearted to turn her away while she’s so upset… As long as they keep it platonic it’s not really a problem I guess.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” Porrim asked, searching the cupboards for something to offer the guests.

“Me and Dirk,” Nepeta said, appearing in the doorway and practically pouncing on a cup of coffee, “We were heart players – a lot of its intuitive but you can just _tell_ when a couple don’t quite work out. Meowlin had the best of intentions but she wasn’t right for Horuss.” Nepeta lapped at the coffee with her tongue and cocked her head, “What are you looking fur?”

“Biscuits – I had a couple of packs here the other day I _swear_ ,”

Cronus snorted, “ _Had_ being the operative word.”

“Meaning?”

“Sorry babe, they’re gone.” He spread his hands in a “ _what can you do?”_ gesture and she snarled, poking him hard in the chest.

“ _Don’t_ fucking _babe_ me, and they’re _gone_? Two packs of biscuits are _gone_? You absolute pig-”

“Hey – you snooze you lose!” Cronus laughed, dodging the snap of the tea towel she aimed his way.

He ducked under the next flick of the tea towel as well and snuck in a sloppy kiss to her cheek before she shoved him away by his face- and probably would have followed up with an attack of her own except they found Dirk and Nepeta staring at them.

“…What?”

“Kissmesitude is so fascinating from a human perspective,” Dirk said, shrugging.

“And you two are purretty purrfect for one another!” Nepeta added, accepting Dirk’s fist-bump.

“Oh.” Cronus could feel violet blood rushing to his cheeks so he busied himself with carrying a tray of coffees out to the living room, where Equius was carefully administering the numbing agent to Kankri’s exposed wrists.

“Did it hurt when she pulled them off?” The hulking troll asked softly, crouching on the floor to address Kankri at his level.

“Yes. But like an electric shock. Painful but quick. Not like constant pain of actual hands.”

It was strange hearing short, stunted sentences from the usually so loquacious Kankri, but then it was nice to hear his voice at all, Cronus thought.

“Good job with the tongue guys,” Cronus said, passing round the coffee, “I don’t know how you do what you do – but I’m glad you do it.”

Equius gave him a chipped-tooth smile and nodded his thanks.

“Let us know when you’re numb and we’ll get your hands reattached quickly,” Horuss said, patting Meulin’s back absent-mindedly as she clung to him, “Um, look, not to ambush you – but can Meulin talk to you for a few minutes? I mean, we won’t leave you alone – but she’s been worrying about whether you’d even want her in your hive let alone hear what she has to say.”

Kankri seemed to think it over, then spoke, knowing that Meulin couldn’t read his lips, buried as she was in Horuss’ shoulder.

“Of course she can talk to me. I’m not angry at her.” Kankri paused to wipe his mouth awkwardly on his shoulder as using the new tongue for longer sentences still made him stutter and spit. He flushed bright red in his own particular blend of furious shame, but continued, quietly, “I’m just… sad, I suppose.”

Horuss whispered to Meulin and she turned, wiping her eyes.

“Wow. あなたはひどい見て,” Damara said from the doorway. Cronus shooshed her but she had a point; Meulin really did look awful, the bags under her eyes could rival Equius’ and her face was puffy and sore from tears.

“ _Hey Kankri,”_ she signed, apparently not trusting herself to speak, _“Kurloz is a bit more… stable now and when I spoke to him he said Aranea was lying to hurt us and that I didn’t have anything to do with… with what happened. But I don’t really know if I can trust Kurloz anymore. And if you would prefer I stopped seeing him I will because I value our friendship so much and I would be devastated if…”_

She trailed off and bit her lip, finding it hard to meet Kankri’s gaze.

“ _Regardless of whether or not I played a part, would you… will you forgive me? I’m so, so sorry for anything I’ve done…”_

Kankri looked down at his wrists and then over to the nutritionblock where Porrim was still clattering around.

Cronus caught his eye and signed, “ _You’ve gotta answer this for yourself mate.”_

Kankri blanched, “No, I do, I- of course I forgive you, if there even is anything to forgive – I honestly don’t remember a lot about that night apart from… fear and pain. But can I… Can I have some time to…” he trailed off uncomfortably, but Meulin was already nodding gratefully.

“Of course! Of course Kankri! I- thank you,” fresh olive tears streaked down her cheeks and she swept in to plant a kiss on the top of his head before retreating, hands raised in a show of peace. “I’ll, I’ll leave you alone now – thank you Horuss and, um, sorry if I shouldn’t have- if it was inappropriate for me to-”

Nepeta interrupted, her mouth full of whatever snack Porrim had managed to scrounge up in the kitchen.

“Hey Meulin if you’re going, do you want to come back to mine and watch a movie? I could do with some company,” she added, winking at Equius as she walked past and taking her dancestors hand.

“Thank you,” Meulin sniffed, and trailed after her.

“私が彼女だったら私は Makara の少年を殺します.”Damara muttered darkly, but before anyone could translate her words Kankri piped up saying he was numb enough and the Zahaks got down to business.

“Uh, guys,” Dirk called from the nutritionblock, after about ten minutes of work that Cronus couldn’t look at, but couldn't be obviously disgusted at since Porrim was _right there_ , “guys?”

“Can it wait?” Equius grunted, “Concentrating-”

Dirk appeared in the doorway clutching at his glasses as words flickered across the screens, his face grey and anxious, “I understand its fiddly work but this is kind of important.

“How important?” Equius asked, wiping his brow and attaching another tiny wire in Kankri’s hands.

“Well-”

“ああ神聖なたわごと!! 何クソ地獄？? Aranea 彼女の気の心を失ってしまいました!!”

“ _That_ serious,” Dirk deadpanned, as Damara yelled in horror at the ever expanding memo running across the screen of her phone.

“What – what is it? What’s happened?” Porrim asked, instinctively reaching out for Kankri.

“彼女はクソ戦争を開始したいです! これらの馬鹿は同意します - それはまだ終わっていないのです, Aranea あなたにすべての死者を望んでいます.”

Cronus’ lips moved as he tried to translate, “Aranea wants to start a war – she wants to kill us all??”

“Pretty much totally yes.” Dirk said. “You can read the memo on pesterchum but essentially she’s furious about what you did to her – no, I’m not even going to ask – and she’s calling for your heads. Meenah and Vriska are already on her side and rearing to go… something tells me the Makaras won’t be long behind them… and who knows who else will step up?”

“But – but we were getting revenge for something _she_ did – she started this whole thing!” Porrim stammered, looking at Cronus for validation, but he couldn’t do anything but stare back, horror-struck.

“I don’t think she cares,” Dirk said shrugging, “Somehow I don’t think she’s driven by conventional justice.”

“うそつけ. She think world revolve around her and her fantasy. She want justice for her. If that mean she have to kill everybody else I think she do it.”

Damara lit up a cigarette and even Kankri couldn’t summon the energy to object.

“How long do you think we have?” Cronus asked, fingers itching for a cigarette of his own.

“However long it takes for Aranea and Kurloz to heal enough to fight, I suppose,” Porrim whispered back.

There was a long, awful pause, and then Equius spoke up.

“You know, you don’t have to face them alone. I can’t speak for everyone but I personally would help you take them down, if you’d have me.”

“Same – despite our little ‘encounter’ I’d say I’m on your side over the crazies.” Dirk said, flashing a smile of approval at Equius, who flushed and busied himself with the task at hand.

“I too would consider it the noble course of action to fight on your side,” Horuss rumbled, finishing Kankri’s right hand and letting him flex it experimentally.

Cronus felt a tiny spark of hope rekindle itself and Porrim smiled gratefully at the assembled group.

“Do you think we could convince anyone else?”

Damara caught Kankri’s gaze and sighed, stubbing her cigarette out on the bottom of her shoe.

“ああ、それをファック. I’m in. Haven’t kill Meenah in a while anyway.”

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this might be the penultimate chapter guys, just a heads up!  
> I'm really sorry if there are spelling/ typing quirk mistakes in here - as usual I've reached saturation point when it comes to looking at this chapter, and I'll do any fixes tomorrow/ soonish... Oh and I'll be going back and formatting the pesterlogs nicely once I've finished the fic - but for now I hope they're not too hard to read.  
> Enjoy - and, as usual, thank you so much for reading, and taking the time to comment - it means so much to me :3
> 
> (PS: note to self: you hate typing quirks, you hate typing quirks, you HATE typing quirks!!)

 

“So. Pony-boy. We cool?” Damara asked once Kankri’s hands were reattached and the small group were settling themselves in the living room.

Cronus had to hold back a snort when both Zahaks turned at “Pony-boy”, but was grateful when Horuss replied cordially.

“…I think, given the circumstances, I would be amenable to being, uh, “cool” with you. Rufioh and I are on a… break anyhow.” He added as he extended a gloved hand for her to shake.

“ほら, we better off without him and his drama anyway.” Damara said disdainfully.

Horuss shrugged and scratched at the back of his neck fretfully, “Well I don’t know… it’s not – he’s not a bad person it’s just he- he sometimes-”

“Can be an oblivious idiot?” Dirk finished, throwing himself down to sit next to Equius, leaning up against the far wall. “Man he’s cute, funny, and will not hesitate to trample on other people’s feelings because he straight up doesn’t understand them – and if he does he just _carries on trampling_ but with a pained expression like what he’s doing hurts him as much as it hurts you but he just _can’t stop_ …”

He caught Damara and Horuss’ shocked expressions, “What? Don’t tell me I’ve got him wrong – I was a heart player, remember?”

“No that’s, incredibly perceptive, actually.” Horuss muttered, while Damara laughed and announced, “He good! I like him!” pointing a red lacquered fingernail at Dirk.

Dirk snorted and gave her a mock salute, then turned to Horuss and said seriously, “Dude the guy’s a mess. I know you miss him but seriously don’t go back to him until he gets himself a moirail that makes him get his shit together okay?”

Horuss nodded, averting his eyes and Dirk leant back clapping his hands,

“Great, so now we’ve established that our little team isn’t going to self-destruct, and that Rufioh Nitram needs to stop playing the “oh but I didn’t _mean_ it that way!” card, shall we get to business – can we have a proper look at this memo?”

Porrim nodded, her lips pursed bloodlessly in apprehension, and hooked up her husktop to Kankri’s television so they could all read the rapidly updating memo, then pulled out her phone so she could chime in where necessary.

 

…

TG: havent we had enough blood and atrocities?

TG: nah

TG: leave me out

TG: id say leave karkat out too but apparently mutant bros gotta stick together or some shit

cG: OKAY SO FIRST OF ALL THAT’S NOT WHAT I FUCKING SAID BUT OK

cG: AND SECOND OF ALL IF WE GET HURT THE UNIVERSE IS RESETTING ANYWAY RIGHT @SOLLUX

tA: well yeah

tA: ii mean ii thiink 2o

tA: but liike, don’t quote me on that

gG: and what if we die??

eB: “we?” jade I thought you were staying out of things?

gG: I am!! I just mean – what if someone dies?? :(

aG: then they’ll pro8a8ly have deserved it >::::)

AG: Exactly.

tA: diid you just agree wiith your2elf?

tA: oh waiit

ta: oh no thiis i2 2uch bull2hiit hang on

\--twinArmageddon changed the chumhandles of this memo to YOUR FUCKIING NAME2--

SOLLUX: riight that2 much better

MEENAH: so nubs mcshouty

MEENAH: you not feelin being my threshecutioner anenemore?

KARKAT: NOT WHEN YOU’VE SIDED WITH A PSYCHOTIC BULGEMUNCH, NO

MEENAH: 3>8(

SOLLUX: haha niice one kk

SOLLUX: 2eriiously how deluded do you have two be two 2iide wiith 2omeone who got **2liightly annoyed** at a per2on

SOLLUX: and 2o mutiilated them and 2et up a web of mii22iinformatiion to deflect 2u2piiciion from her2elf

SOLLUX: liike @vriska you do 2ee how thii2 ii2 fuckiin riidiiculou2, riight?

VRISKA: it’s a8out the principle of the thing, o8viously

VRISKA: like you siding with team mutant-freak

VRISKA: o8viously you did that unconsciously 8ecause you, too – sorry, TWO- are a mutant freak

SOLLUX: eat shiit 2erket

ARANEA: My, my, it really seems like it’s the low8loods who aren’t intelligent enough to see I’m in the right here.

MITUNA: W04H H3M0-H47R3D 0U7 0F 7HE L3F7 F13LD

MITUNA: 1M M4K1NG 4N 3FF0R7 70 N07 83 0FF3ND3D 4R4N34 – 1M 0N Y0UR FUCK1NG S1D3

ERIDAN: yeah and ill thank you not to lump all highbloods in wwith you

FEFERI: )(a)(a wow YOUR-E )(ere?? We t)(oug)(t you were still sulking in your )(ive!

SOLLUX: FF-

KARKAT: NO OFFENSE FEFERI BUT SHUT THE FUCK UP – AND ANYWAY ERIDAN’S RIGHT, NOT ALL HIGHBLOODS WANT IN ON THIS

FEFERI: wow RUD-E! 38(

FEFERI: but yes I’m keeping W-ELL out of this

HORUSS: 8=D < Indeed, my dancestor and I are in fact fighting against you Aranea.

NEPETA: :33 < wait what – @equius you’re fighting? Then so am I

EQUIUS: D --> No you’re not

NEPETA: :33 <  yes I am!

EQUIUS: D --> No

NEPETE: :33 <   yes

EQUIUS: D --> No

NEPETA: :33 < yes

EQUIUS: D --> No

NEPETA: :33 < yes

EQUIUS: D --> No

FEFERI: oh stop telling )(er what s)(e can and can’t do!

FEFERI: I know you want to protect )(er and I respect t)(at

FEFERI: but this shoald be )(-ER c)(oice

FEFERI: are you listening to me?

EQUIUS: D --> Uh

EQUIUS: D --> Yes

NEPETA: :33 <  haha yes! Thanks fefurry!

MITUNA: 4NYW4Y L37’5 134V3 7H3 H3M05P3C7RUM 0U7 0F 7H1NG5 Y34H

CRONUS: @mituna do you still havwe to fuckin type like that

MITUNA: L1K3 WH4T?

MITUNA: 4C7U411Y N0 D0N’7 4N5W3R 7H47

MITUNA: 83C4U53 KN0W1NG Y0U, Y0ULL 54Y “L1K3 4 5P4ZZ” 0R 50M37H1NG 51M1L4R

MITUNA: 4ND 7H3N 1LL H4V3 T0 K1LL Y0U 5L0W3R 7H4N 1 0R1G1N4LLY PL4NN3D

CRONUS: oh you’re gunna kill me?

MITUNA: Y34H 455W1P3 83C4U53 1 FUCK1NG L047H3 Y0U

MITUNA: 4ND Y0U 70R7UR3D MY M01R41L

MITUNA: WH0 15 CL34RLY N07 1N C0N7R0L 0F H15 F4CUL7135 3N0UGH 7O 83 H3LD R35P0N518L3 F0R H15 4C710N5

LATULA: tun4 hon3y t4k3 1t down a notch m4yb3?

LATULA: 1 th1nk you m1ght b3 4 l1ttl3… b14s3d

LATULA: not th4t 1 don’t und3rst4nd why you w4nt to k1ll h1m 1 just

LATULA: look 1t would b3 n1c3 1f you d1dn’t g3t hurt 4g41n!!!!

MEENAH: koi pyrope – you with us then or what

LATULA: 1, uh…

MEENAH: spit it trout

LATULA: 1 don’t know how 1 f33l 4bout 1t 4ll 4ctu4lly

LATULA: 1 th1nk

LATULA: 1 m1ght s1t th1s one out, p4ych3ck

VRISKA: you’re kidding r8ght? I thought Pyr8pe’s were all a8out justice! They’ve 8een running around torturing people!!!!!!!!

LATULA: but 1t st4rt3d wh3n K4nkr1 got 4tt4ck3d!

LATULA: for no r34l r34son!!!

LATULA: uh, look 1m 4 l1ttl3 confus3d

PORRIM: It’s o+kay Latula yo+u do+n’t have to+ get invo+lved just because yo+ur matesprit is.

PORRIM: Take so+me deep breaths darling yo+u’re do+ing fine.

MITUNA: D0 Y0U W4NN4 B4CK 7H47 (4DM1773DLY F1N3) 455 UP TH3R3 M4RY4M

VRISKA: yeah st8y 8ut of this

VRISKA: god another fussyfangs that’s just what we need!!!!!!!!

VRISKA: look – you should join your dancestor. Terezi’s on our side-

TEREZI: 4CTU4LLY 4BOUT TH4T

VRISKA: WH8T????????

TEREZI: LOOK1NG 4T TH1S C4S3 FROM 4 PUR3LY OBJ3CT1V3 PO1NT OF V13W

TEREZI: BOTH P4RT13S 4R3 1N TH3 WRONG

TEREZI: BUT 1F 4R4N34 DROPS 1T NOW, TH1NGS 4R3 PR3TTY MUCH 3V3N

TEREZI: 3XC3PT SH3S NOT DROPP1NG 1T, SO 1’M GO1NG TO B3 PULL1NG OUT OF TH1S ON3

TEREZI: GOOD LUCK THOUGH, 1 KNOW 1 C4NT T4LK YOU OUT OF TH1S ONE

 TEREZI: 4ND HON3STLY 1T SOUNDS L1K3 YOU’LL B3 F1N3 WH3N TH1S UN1V3RS3 F1N4LLY SORTS 1TS3LF OUT

TEREZI: SO

TEREZI: <>

VRISKA: god fiiiiiiiine I guess that’s okay ::::(

VRISKA : <>

VRISKA: 8ut @eridan what the hell’s up with you????????

VRISKA: you used to actually H8VE a 8ackbone

VRISKA: this game really did a num8er on you, huh?

ERIDAN: fuck off

VRISKA: what do you even owe those guys?

ERIDAN: a lot more than I owwe you

ERIDAN: wwhich is jack shit, to be clear

VRISKA: fine. 8e a l8ser your whole life what do I care? @tavros. front and centre

TAVROS: uHHHHH

VRISKA: what’s the pro8lem pupa? H8ven’t you got some sort of red thing going on with gamzee

VRISKA: who they tot8lly destroyed

TAVROS: wELL YES, bUT H’ES PRETTY MUCH, rECOVERED

TAVROS: aND, lIKE, hE ENJOYED THE FIGHT, uH, qUITE A LOT

TAVROS: aND

TAVROS: aND I’M PRETTY SURE, wHAT YOU’RE SUGGESTING IS, uH

TAVROS: wRONG?

VRISKA: come ooooooon tavros – do you have to 8e a cowardly sack of shit your entire life?

VRISKA: gamzee’s fighting for us, don’t you want to 8e on his side?

TAVROS: wELL IT’S, jUST

TAVROS: i JUST DON’T WANT TO, yOU KNOW, fIGHT OR, lIKE, dIE ANYMORE

VRISKA: Tavros you get your arse over here pronto or I’ll just control you into fighting ;))))))))

TAVROS: oH }:(

ARADIA: n0 way

ARADIA: id like t0 see y0u try – 0r did y0u f0rget that rust bl00ds have psychic p0wers t00?

ARADIA: ill be pr0tecting any0ne wh0 d0esnt want t0 fight, t0 make sure they d0nt get r0ped in by y0u 0r y0ur dancest0r

ARADIA: but 0therwise tavr0s and I are n0t getting inv0lved in this

ARADIA: and if y0u say 0ne m0re der0gat0ry thing t0 tavr0s

ARADIA: i will c0me 0ver there and drag y0ur spine 0ut thr0ugh y0ur m0uth

ARADIA: 0u0

KANAYA: Is This The Sort Of Exchange To Be Having In Public

VRISKA: oh god you just c8n’t help yourself can you

VRISKA: let me guess you’re on team whiny asshole too?

KANAYA: I’m With @Rose

JOHN: um @Rose, you’re not thinking of fighting are you?

JOHN: like I kind of thought we all agreed to stay out of this troll business?

ROSE: You know full well that certain people have made this my business.

ROSE: I’m a big girl; I can handle myself, John, don’t worry.

DIRK: Yeah on that note, I’m fighting with the Zahaks.

DIRK: But- and I cannot stress this enough- @jane @jake @roxy I want you to stay put.

DIRK: I mean it. There’s no need for you to get hurt over something you’re not involved in.

ROXY: lol yeah fuckin RIGHT

ROXY: just u try to hold me back

ROXY: janey u look out for jake and ill make sure batman here doesnt do nything stupid, deal?

JANE: Deal! :B

JAKE: Um excuse me chums but shouldn’t it be *me* watching out for *Jane* in these tumultuous times?

ROXY: …

ROXY: u two can watch out for each other

ROXY: how does that sound? :3

ARANEA: Childish.

ARANEA: 8ut honestly that’s all I’ve come to expect from your pathetic little group.

ARANEA: Who does that leave?

RUFIOH: uh, me, doll

RUFIOH: but 1 th1nk 1t would be 1nappropr1ate of me to take s1des as 1m not really, uh, 1nvolved

RUFIOH: so 1m go1ng to make l1ke my dancestor

DAMARA: ほら、典型的な

DAMARA: i with cronus and porrim

DAMARA: so good luck using mind powersクモの愚痴

ARANEA: Oh please as if your powers could overcome the 8oth of us.

ARANEA: I’m going to crush your mind and leave you a dri88ling vegeta8le!

MITUNA: 4G41N, 7RY1NG R34L H4RD N0T 70 83 0FF3ND3D

MITUNA: _YEAH WATCH YOURSELF OR I’LL BE TURNING ON YOU ONCE IT’S OVER_

MITUNA: _MAYBE I CAN’T TAKE YOU OUT HOW I USED TO_

MITUNA: _BUT I’LL MAKE YOU SEE SPIDERS UNDER YOUR SKIN_

MITUNA: _UNTIL YOU TEAR YOUR OWN SKIN OFF TO LET THEM OUT_

MITUNA: W0W 50RRY

MITUNA: _I MEAN IT_

MITUNA: 4LR1GH7 B4B3 C4LM D0WN 1 KN0W Y0U M34N 17

MITUNA: 8U7 S4V3 7H3 5K1N T34R1NG F0R CR0NU5 Y34H?

GAMZEE: hell yes

GAMZEE: THAT’S SOMETHING I CAN GET ALL UP AND EXCITED FOR

GAMZEE: you gave me a good run around last time

GAMZEE: THIS TIME IT’LL BE A MIRACLE IF YOU WALK AWAY FROM WHAT I’LL DO TO YOU

GAMZEE: honk

GAMZEE: HONK

TAVROS: jUST, uH, dON’t GET HURT, mAYBE?

GAMZEE: aw don’t you worry none Tav-Bro

GAMZEE: THE MESSIAHS WILL WATCH OVER ME

PORRIM: Well no+w that’s cleared up, @sollux can yo+u mo+ve o+ur “side” o+nt+o a new memo+?

PORRIM: O+h wait, so+rry, @Meulin where do+ yo+u stand?

MEULIN: I, UH

MEULIN: I DON’T KNOW!!

MEULIN: I DON’T WANT ANYONE TO GET HURT

MEULIN: AND I DON’T WANT TO FIGHT

MEULIN: BUT PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT ARE ON BOTH SIDES OF THIS!

KANKRI: I h9nestly d9n’t want any9ne t9 fight either.

KANKRI: 6ut since I can’t seem t9 d9 anything a69ut it, why d9n’t y9u c9me 9ver until things 6l9w 9ver?

MEULIN: THANK YOU KANKRI, I WILL :33

 

\--twinArmageddon moved 13 users to new memo--

PORRIM: Lo+o+k this is getting a little hard to+ fo+llo+w,

PORRIM: Shall we mo+ve to+ mo+re spacio+us quarters?

PORRIM: Ho+w abo+ut a meeting at my hive to+mo+rro+w?

PORRIM: Aranea and Kurlo+z still have to+ heal so+ I recko+n we can leave it that lo+ng…

 

 

Porrim switched off the television with a click and sighed heavily, looking around grimly at the small group.

“Hey, at least we know who we’re up against,” Cronus said awkwardly, taking little comfort in his own empty words.

“And we have over double their number on our side,” Dirk offered up, “not to mention we have these guys.” He slapped Equius’ bicep and Equius blushed, elbowing him will exaggerated gentleness.

“I don’t doubt the prowess of anyone who has agreed to help bring Aranea down- but I wanted it over _now_ ,” Porrim said quietly, “I just want us to be safe- and instead we have to fight this stupid battle.”

“And we outnumber them thirteen to six but they all super strong and powerful,” Damara said scowling, “We up against five highblood – with chucklevoodoos and physic powers, and a low blood who is a so powerful mutant psiioniic. We not completely fucked. But it be a close thing.” She lit up another cigarette in the ensuing silence and took a hard drag on it, as if imagining sucking the life from her enemies.

“Perhaps it would be best if we gave you some space – and we’ll reconvene with you tomorrow, if that’s acceptable?” Horuss said hesitantly, and Porrim nodded.

“Thank you so much for everything, really – we’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

 

 

Porrim left to tidy up her hive in preparation for having guests the next day, and Cronus threw himself down next to Kankri on the sofa, draping an arm over his eyes and trying to nap a little bit before she came back and inevitably demanded blood.

“Must you really smoke inside my hive?” Kankri said to Damara after a minute, shifting irritably in his seat, and forcing the words out slowly and carefully, “I mean, it would be another thing if you didn’t know my wishes, but I was very clear – just because you are perfectly happy with polluting your lungs doesn’t mean I am.”

“I open a window. No problem.”

“Yes problem. Please would you just respect my wishes and go outside? I understand it’s a very stressful time for everyone but you must know those things are basically poison, right? I don’t mean to insult your intelligence but any wriggler knows what they can do to your body – and it’s just common courtesy when you’re in another trolls hive-”

She let out a short bark of laughter, “Wow, Aranea teach you nothing.”

Kankri stilled next to him and Cronus peeked out from under his arm.

Kankri had gone silent, apparently speechless, and was looking down at his prosthetic hands, pressing one into his stomach where “ _shhh”_ was raised in thick pink scars.

“Hey look. I joking,” Damara said hurriedly, “It okay I being rude, I go outside.”

Kankri didn’t answer or even raise his head, but Cronus saw a pink tear splash into his lap.

“Hey, Kan, she didn’t mean it,” he whispered gently kissing the top of Kankri’s head.

Damara hovered awkwardly in the doorway, concern on her face, and Cronus patted Kanrki’s shoulder gently before tugging her out the door.

“I didn’t-” she began, but Cronus cut her off.

“Look, Damz, I am _super_ fucking pale for you, and I know you have this little black crush thing going on with Kan at the moment – but you _can’t_ be pushing his buttons like that. He’s in no way ready to reciprocate any black solicitations – because he’s going to interpret them as _attacks_.”

“I was only-”

“I know.” Cronus said softly, stroking her cheek to take the sting out of his words, “I know you didn’t mean it like that but – shit, Damz you weren’t _there_. What happened was _awful_ and- and ridiculously fucking traumatising and it completely ruined him – and it’s taken so long to get him back to this point, okay? I know he can be… irritating, sometimes - but it’s a _good thing_ that he’s starting to sound like his old self – because that way I know he’s recovering somewhat.”

Cronus realised he was babbling and tried to get back on message, “Don’t put him down for using his voice, because he _only just got it back_ after it was _literally_ torn from him, all right? He needs encouragement, not- not…”

Cronus could feel the lump in his throat as a physical pain that threatened to choke him. Damara reached up to stroke his cheek lightly.

“I get it, I in the wrong,” she whispered, “I go say sorry – then I go home for this evening, はい?”

Cronus planted a chaste kiss to her forehead and watched her re-enter the hive and approach Kankri cautiously, kneeling down to his level and speaking in a soft voice, like she was approaching a wild purrbeast.

After a moment Kankri nodded and Damara stood up.

“I going home to poison my own くそーhive, okay?”

Cronus snorted and hugged her, “Message me to say you got back safe, yeah? Can’t be too careful with all these lunatics around.”

She rolled her eyes, “してください、ああI be fine – you message me to tell me the ‘drinker not drain you dry tonight.”

 

 

Actually, when she returned, the ‘drinker wasn’t all that interested in blood, for once.

“Can I talk to you – both of you?” she asked softly, jerking Kankri and Cronus from the half-sleep they’d fallen into, curled up together on the sofa.

“Sure,” Cronus said through a yawn, raising an eyebrow when she made no move to sit down.

“Look I just, I just wanted to address some of things Aranea said the other day…” she began, wringing her hands and pacing the livingroom, the _swish swish_ of her dress coming as evenly as a metronome. “It’s just – I don’t want you to think- I thought it was important to-”

“Slow down and think of a fucking sentence before opening your mouth.” Cronus said exasperatedly, and Porrim flipped him off before continuing.

“Look Aranea said…”

“A lot of crazy shit?” Cronus offered and she huffed.

“Will you let me finish a thought?” She smoothed her dress and forced herself to stand still, “Anyway Aranea said a lot about my… tendency to… skip from quandrantmate to quadrantmate and said a lot about me leaving you two once I was… I don’t know – bored, or, or _done_ , and I thought I should say this sooner rather than later-”

Cronus gaped, “Are you leaving us?”

“NO!” she snarled, shoving him back into the sofa cushions, “I’m trying to say that I have no plans to leave you – idiot!”

She sighed and dropped down between the two of them, pulling Kankri to rest on her shoulder and taking Cronus’s hand.

“This isn’t easy for me so could you wait until later before filling your daily _being an ass_ quota?”

Kankri papped her and she smiled softly, nuzzling into his cheek, “I just wanted to be clear – no matter what Aranea said, and no matter how I’ve been in the past – that I’ve never been happier with my quadrants and I don’t mean to leave either of you…. I’m keeping the revolving door of my heart quadrant for the foreseeable future, but my diamond and spade are firmly locked, okay?”

Kankri papped her again and she let out a tiny croon. Cronus made a disgusted noise and she elbowed him in the side, but they soon settled down in a comfortable pile – that is, until Kankri fell asleep and Porrim whispered, “Well that’s dinnertime, by my watch,” tugging insistently at the neck of his shirt.

As she drank Cronus tried not to worry about the fact that Kankri hadn’t spoken since Damara had mentioned him not “learning his lesson”… but he figured Porrim would talk it through with him during their next jam. Sometime soon, he hoped.

 

 

Porrim’s hive felt crowded with the whole team assembled, but her ground floor was airy and open-plan, and they found a way to get everyone in comfortably.

Porrim was using her desk as a podium, and she perched on the edge with Cronus leaned languidly against it. The Zahaks, who had arrived first, impeccably punctual as always, had chairs pushed up against the far wall. Nepeta had arrived with them, but she seemed to prefer the floor, and was sat hugging a pillow and occasionally whispering things up to Equius – Cronus caught something about a “purrsonal vendetta against Gamzee”, but didn’t bother to listen in more.

Kankri and Meulin sat at the bottom of the spiral staircase that lead to Porrim’s upper floors and Rose, Kanaya and Roxy were sat in a heap of cushions Porrim had laid out before the desk. Dirk stood behind them, leaning against the wall – in a manner that suggested both that he was perfectly at ease and simultaneously wound as tight as a spring, ready to leap at a moment’s notice.

Eridan arrived with Karkat and Sollux, but Cronus barely even registered he was there, hunched and hiding behind the others as he was. He flinched away from eye contact and Sollux actually reached back to hold his hand, albeit with an expression of irritable exasperation, when Eridan looked like he was about to bolt.

The last to arrive was Damara – who simply shrugged and flipped anyone off if they dared to look at her funny for her tardiness. Judging by the whiff of nicotine Cronus caught when she swanned past him, he judged she’d finished smoking outside before coming in – so as not to bring up anything with Kankri again, he hoped – and he flashed her a smile before turning to nod at Porrim to begin.

“Okay, well, hello everyone,” she began, her voice low and steady, “Thank you for pledging your support against Aranea and her lot, it really means a lot to us that you would do this – for whatever personal reasons you have.

“We imagine that Kurloz will be well enough to fight in a few days – and while Aranea won’t be fully healed by then, she’s fuelled enough by rage to attack the second she deems her team ready… Honestly I think we should be ready to go anytime from tomorrow – although I imagine she’ll call us out into the open instead of just converging on one hive or another.

We have the numerical advantage here, but we can’t get overconfident as the team we are facing are incredibly strong and fast – with abilities surpassing many of our own. I think we should stay in one or two nearby hives until the fight so we can regroup as quickly as possible – and, of course, use the ensuing time to brush up on your skills if it’s been a while.”

She surveyed the group.

“Does that sound acceptable?”

There was a murmur of assent, but it was interrupted by one small voice.

“But what’s the _plan_ – what battle tactics are we employin’?”

Porrim craned to see Eridan, half-hiding as he was behind Karkat and Sollux.

“What you do know about tactics, chief?” Cronus asked, and Eridan shot him a filthy look.

“Everythin’. I’ve been studyin’ military history since I was old enough to read, and doing extreme LARPing since I was three sweeps old. And-” his voice had been getting stronger as he spoke, but it faltered now, “And, well, I was Feferi’s Orphaner for as long as I can remember so – so-”

“So he knows what he’s talking about.” Karkat finished firmly, “and we should listen to him.”

“Sure,” Porrim said slowly, looking at Eridan with an appraising eye, “Come up here, so we can see you, and tell us your thoughts.”

Eridan looked like he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole, but – with a few nudges and prods from Sollux- he stumbled up to the desk and sat behind it, using the desk itself as a shield between him and the assembled group.

“Well, uh, look, it actually makes more sense for us to be on the offensive – if we wait for Aranea and Kurloz to heal more we’re only makin’ it harder for ourselves. Also if we allow Aranea to get the drop on us there’s a high possibility that the psychics could get to us before Damara or Sullux had a chance to put up defences. You could wake up in a chuckvoodoo world and be killed without even seein’ an enemy coming, for example.

Or you might not wake up at all, and just have one of the Serkets usin’ your body to attack your teammates.

No – we need to attack first, and we need to draw them out into the open. Therefore we need to make sure Sollux and Damara are protected at all times – not that they can’t hold their own – but as our only psychics they’re our most valuable asset against Mituna’s psiionics, the Makaras Chucklevoodoos and the Serket’s psychic abilities – and since they have to take on so many attackers mentally, it’s likely that their ability to physically attack will be greatly diminished.”

He spoke in a low, hoarse voice, but gesticulated expressively, keeping his eyes fixed on the desk before him, as if seeing a battle play out on the wooden surface.

“What do you suggest?” Rose asked, from where she sat on the pillows, “I assume you have an idea.”

Eridan nodded and wet his lips nervously, “Well I was thinkin’, since they’ll have to advance first to counter any psychic attacks before lettin’ the rest of us through - and they’ll need physical strength to counter physical attacks at this point– maybe the Zahaks could play bodyguard for out psychics?”

“What do you think?” Cronus asked to the Zahaks; they were already nodding.

“It sounds like a logical approach,” Horuss said agreeably, “I’ll cover Damara if you cover Sollux?” he added to Equius who grunted his agreement.

“Okay, well,” Eridan began, getting more confident as his ideas were accepted, “Assumin’ we can get them into the open and stave off some psychic attacks, at least at first, then we need to try take down the Serkets and Mituna before we tackle anyone else-”

“Why?” Dirk asked, and instead of flinching away from the question Eridan looked up, eyes shining with excitement.

“Because _his_ psiionics could take us all out in one go and _their_ powers can manipulate us – whereas Meenah will be relyin’ on her – admittedly formidable- strength; Gamzee prefers physical to psychological violence; and I’m banking on Kurloz being too injured to summon truly debilitatin’ chucklevoodoo visions.”

“So how do we go about taking out the three most powerful psychics?” Porrim asked and Eridan span to face her, apparently relishing these rapid-fire questions about something he was so passionate about.

“By usin’ classic misdirection! Lurin’ them into what they think is a psychic battle then havin’ someone else take them down – so, say if Sollux takes on Mituna with his psiionics, then someone – say Karkat needs to come in and take Mituna out while he’s distracted.”

“Okay but what do we do about Meenah and the Makaras? Or the fact that that leaves Damara taking on both Serkets?” Cronus asked, impressed at the animation in Eridan’s gaunt face, and the seemingly endless font of tactical ideas he had in his brain.

“If we aim for Mituna straight away, hopefully Sollux can help with one of the Serkets – otherwise someone fast – like Dirk or Nepeta maybe, could hold off one of them for long enough… And I reckon that you, me and Roxy – if we alchemize some more rifles – could act as sharpshooters and keep Meenah and the Makaras on their toes long enough to hold them off – hell, we might even get lucky and take one of them out, who knows? And then-” he suddenly broke off, his face clouding over in confusion.

“That is, if I – am I allowed a gun?” his eyes dropped back to the desk and he fiddled with the hem of his jumper. 

“Yes.” Karkat barked, “You can have Ahab’s fucking Crosshairs if we can figure out how to alchemise it.”

“Just no wands.” Kanaya said quietly, putting the lid back on her lipstick with a _click_ and spreading the colour across her lips with a practised movement.

Eridan looked as if the life had gone out of him and clasped shaking hands together until his fingers started to go white.

“Uhh, okay, great,” he croaked out, seemingly unable to take his eyes from the innocuous tube of lipstick in Kanaya’s hand.

“And what about the rest of us – me, Rose and Kanaya?” Porrim asked quickly, trying to steer things back to tactics, “You haven’t mentioned us yet.”

Eridan blinked a few times, then cleared his throat, dragging his eyes away from Kanaya and back to the relative safety of the desk top.

“M-Meenah,” he whispered, “She’s going to be a formidable enemy – actually once the psychics are down – _if_ we get the psychics down – the Zahaks should move to take her on, ideally. Then there’s the Makaras – these three shouldn’t be faced one-on-one, but with as many opponents as possible. It needs refinin’ but that’s – that’s all I’ve got for now.” He added, pushing back from the desk and slinking back to Karkat and Sollux.

“Well,” Porrim said, clapping her hands together, “I’m glad to have you on the team, most of what you’ve said would never have occurred to me.” Eridan gave her a sickly smile, but he suddenly looked as sallow and frail as an old timer, and Cronus hoped Sollux and Karkat would look after him…

_I guess that means Kanaya never spoke to him after I messaged her._

“Hmm?” he missed the last thing Porrim said, and suddenly found the room in motion and people standing and stretching and heading for the door.

“I said we’ll attack tonight – so everyone needs to get some sleep, or practise, or whatever they need to do and we meet back here at sundown to refine the plan.”

“Alright,” Cronus agreed, squeezing her hand before making a beeline for Kankri.

“Hey Eridan,” Kanaya’s voice was quiet but cut through the room, making Eridan freeze where he was, halfway to the door and trailing after Sollux and Karkat.

Cronus paused and tried to lean nonchalantly against the wall – while getting ready to decaptchalogue his net and drag her away from his dancestor if need be.

“H-hi Kanaya.” Eridan muttered, unable to meet her eye.

“Look at me,” she demanded, and he raised tear-filled eyes. “I’m sorry for… throwing you, back there. That wasn’t kind.”

Eridan gaped at her, “What-?”

Taking him literally Kanaya patiently repeated herself, “I said I’m sorry-”

“ _I’m_ sorry,” Eridan cried quietly, covering his face with a hand and trying to control his shaky breath. “I’m sorry for everything- for killing you and-”

Kanaya looked at Karkat, who nodded, and then she pulled Eridan into an embrace.

“I think we’re about even, don’t you?” she said softly, and Eridan gave a little half-laugh, half-sob and just clung to her.

“I missed you.” He managed to choke out.

Cronus didn’t hear the rest of the conversation – zoning out once he was sure Eridan wasn’t about to be hurt – or hurt anyone, and began to think about the upcoming battle.

_Tonight – that’s too soon, I’m so fucking tired of fighting…_

Still, the sooner this whole mess was over the better. And hey, if they were lucky the universe would reset before anyone died a particularly grisly death…

“Hey Kan,” he said, in as cheerful a tone as he could muster and planting a kiss on Kankri’s cheek, “Since you and Meulin are staying out of this, shall we maybe get you somewhere safe?”

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SHOWDOWN.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is, like, a day late - but in fairness it's twice the length of a regular chapter and you would not BELIEVE the logistical planning this took (and, natch, I had to keep stopping to wipe my tears off the keyboard as I wrote it).  
> Yes there will be an epilogue. I'm not that cruel.  
> <3

 

It took a lot of convincing to pry Kankri away from Cronus and Porrim when the time of the attack drew near. But after solemn promises to not do anything unnecessarily rash – and that they’d come straight back after taking Aranea down- he was persuaded to go back inside his hive with Meulin.

“ _Love you,”_ Cronus signed as they left – hurrying quickly away to avoid Meulin’s excited squealing,

Cronus didn’t look at Porrim as they made their way back to hers.

_Nice lies we told him there. Aranea’s going down – but, potentially, so are we… He’s got to know that on some level though, right?_

Porrim didn’t say anything either, but took his hand as they stepped onto the transportaliser and squeezed as if her life depended on it.

 

 

Back at Porrim’s house Roxy was gushing about her new weapons, Rose was handing out little black boxes and-

“ _What the hell are they?”_ Porrim yelled, making Dirk and the Zahaks start and turn round guiltily.

Three huge mechanical hoofbeasts were tethered to Porrim’s spiral staircase, twitching and snorting like the real thing.

“Seemed a waste not to use them,” Dirk said shrugging.

“This way we’ll be a lot more mobile when protecting Damara and Sollux, and will be able to cross the battlefield quickly and easily,” Equius offered.

“And, well, Aranea’s house is on a hill, which is strategically _not great_ for us,” Eridan chimed in, “So the – what did you call them?- _robohorses_ will allow them to power up the hill before the disadvantage takes too much toll.”

Eridan decaptchalogued a rifle and held it out to Cronus.

“Is this…?”

“Ahab’s Crosshairs!” Squealed Roxy, “Three of ‘em! Rose is an alchemising _genius_ so there’s one for the each of us – _no one’s_ getting past the sharpshooter squad – that’s us eff-why-aye.”

She winked and then mimed shooting a robohorse, making bullet sound effects.

“Yeah alright Rox, watch the merch,” Dirk laughed, “Also does that thing even use bullets? I thought it was more of a plasma – energy deal?”

Cronus took a second to enjoy the familiar weight of Ahab’s Crosshairs in his hands before allocating it to his strife specibus and allowing Porrim to drag him by the ear into a serious conversation with Rose.

“Look, I made these headsets so we can all keep in contact with each other in battle, and won’t have to rely on pesterchum- since some of us have no way of accessing it hands free.” Rose said, holding out the devices for them to inspect.

Porrim examined one of the little black earpieces and nodded, impressed.

“Why do some of them have green tape on them?” Cronus asked, examining his own.

“Since Eridan has worked out vague teams for us, I thought it made sense to have a person in each “team” with the ability to contact all of us,” she explained, affixing her own headset over the top of one ear and taping the mic along her jawline, “the green marked ones can contact the whole team - but if I gave that power to everyone things could just descend into everyone screaming at everyone else…”

She turned her head slightly to hide her wry smile. _Well, she’s got a point._

“So who are the teams, and who has the power to report to the whole group in each?” Porrim asked, and Rose beckoned Eridan back over from where he was talking quietly with Sollux.

“Eridan can you explain the teams – I need to… talk with Kanaya,” Rose gave them a tight smile and span neatly on her heel before walking purposefully over to her matesp- her girlfriend.

“Okay so the teams will be Equius with Sollux to take on Mituna, and Damara and Horuss to take on the Serkets. The Zahaks will have full broadcasting abilities but hopefully they’ll re-join other groups after their fights.” He began, ticking off the checklist on his fingers – which were ornamented with a few plain rings, Cronus couldn’t help but note. “In the sharpshooters group – so Cronus, Roxy and myself – I’ll have the green headset, same for Rose in the group which is loosely defined as Rose, Dirk, Kanaya, Karkat, Porrim and Nepeta. Actually Porrim you’d better have one too since that’s a large group and you might get pulled between fighting Meenah and the Makaras – if we can’t take them down before they arrive…”

He broke off, mind clearly whirring as he thought through possible outcomes.

“Honestly chief, you can’t predict everything – maybe we should get going before you overthink it, hmm? Keep the element of surprise?” Cronus asked, patting Eridan and receiving a familiar look of resentment in return.

“That’s… yeah good idea.” He muttered, hurrying back to Sollux.

“We doing this then?” Cronus asked Porrim, who nodded and took his hand.

“Let’s move out! We’ve got a spider to kill…”

 

 

 

Aranea’s hive was indeed perched atop a hill, and as the group fanned out around its base lightning crackled across the dull grey sky, making it flash and spark portentously.

“Honestly if we can get her before she comes out that would be ideal,” Porrim muttered to Cronus, covering her mic with one hand, “You in?”

“You’re really still asking that?” Cronus pulled his best affronted face and laughed softly when Porrim slapped him.

“Okay, good, well let’s-“

“Well if this isn’t the most pathetic army I’ve ever seen!” Aranea appeared on a balcony with Vriska in tow, her voice ringing out sweet and clear. She looked surprisingly well for someone who had had their arm torn off only a short while ago – in fact her skin was practically glowing as if she was drawing strength from the power of her delusion. “So you’re really serious about this _justice_ business, hmm? Fine. Your funeral.”

She laughed then, a high, pretty laugh that nevertheless sent a shiver through Cronus.

“We’re coming down – and company’s already on the way.”

“Good luck losers,” Vriska added, “You’re gunna need it!”

“Horuss – Damara- go.” Eridan said softly into his mic and Horuss set off at a gallop, the robohorse climbing the hill with swift, powerful strides, reaching the hive just as Aranea and Vriska burst out the front door, twin evil grins on their faces and two sets of Fluorite Octets in their hands.

 

 

_Aranea raised a hand at their approach – but whatever she was hoping would happen clearly didn’t._

_“Wha-?” she began, but then spotted Damara clinging on behind Horuss, her brow furrowed in concentration._

_“Oh how sweet,” Areana cooed, “but do you really think you can take us both?” she signalled to Vriska and Damara hissed in discomfort as tendrils of their power poked and prodded at the walls of her mind._

_“Here, um, do excuse me but – can you take the reins?” Horuss asked, lifting Damara with one hand and settling her in front of him, so he could stand to his full height in the stirrups. “It’s on auto-pilot, don’t worry.”_

_Damara could only moan in reply – and then Vriska screamed as she narrowly avoided an arrow Horuss had aimed at her head._

_“Yes that. Do that more.” Damara gasped, focusing her full power on just Aranea’s blowtorch-like mental light._

_“Yes m’am,” he replied, grinning and pulling another arrow tight in the bowstring._

_“Is that how you want to play?” Vriska yelled, a set of dice appearing in her hand, “Fine!”_

_Her first roll sent a boulder falling from the sky into the path of the robohorse – but Horuss reached down and yanked the reins to swerve – and got in a lucky shot that pierced Vriska’s cherry-red boot._

_Screaming in fury Vriska yanked the arrow from her foot and rolled again – this time a set of throwing knives materialised in the air before them, and Horuss took one to the shoulder and one to the gut._

_In the few seconds it took for him to gasp and sag in the stirrups Vriska turned her will back to Damara and she groaned as hairline cracks began appearing in her barriers to her mind._

_“Come on pony-boy._ _仕事に戻ります_ _! Wakey-wakey!” She called desperately, slapping her hand against the leg she found behind her._

 

Cronus, Roxy and Eridan set themselves up behind a handy outcropping of rock that gave them a perfect sightline to the nearest transportaliser. Porrim spared a second to press a kiss to Cronus’ fins before whispering,

“Nepeta, Kanaya and I are going to spread out around the rest of the hill in case the Makaras, Meenah or Mituna approach from another direction.”

He grunted in reply and set Ahab’s Crosshairs in its familiar niche in his shoulder, fighting the urge to start taking potshots at Aranea – anything to deflect her attention from his moirail…

_Stick to the plan; she’s out of range here and you’ve got your own job to do._

As his thoughts whirled Eridan’s voice cut through them -

_“Mituna incoming!” Eridan’s voice was sharp and professional as it came through on everyone’s headset, “Equius, get Sollux over there to intercept!”_

_Equius grunted his reply. They had been riding up the hill to give Damara and Horuss what help they could, but now he set the robohorse to canter, wheeling round and careening back down the hill to meet Mituna before he could get in striking distance of any of their team. Sollux managed to turn his scream into a moan as the horse flew down the hillside and dug his claws tighter into Equius’ vest._

_“Just hang on!” Equius yelled over his shoulder as the horse took a particularly impressive flying leap,_

_“I am fucking hanging on,” Sollux screamed in reply, drawing blood under his fingers as the horse came to a skidding stop. Equius barely seemed to notice, transfixed as he was by Mituna – flying over the plain that surrounded Aranea’s hill in a crackling cloud of psiionic energy._

_“You’re up,” Equius muttered, turning in the saddle to help Sollux stand._

_Mituna was coming in like a lightning storm, his psiionics surrounding him in a ball of spiky energy that sizzled in the humid air and spat out lances of power as he swooped in closer to the ground._

_Standing on Equius’ shoulder to give himself a leg up, Sollux launched himself into the air, his psiionics lashing out to clash with Mituna’s – the impact sending a rain of sparks down, and a fallout that nearly shorted out Equius’ horse._

_“Stay outta this – I don’t wanna hurt you,” Mituna yelled, his voice distorted and crackling through the psiionic cloud._

_“Yeah, well, you want to hurt my friends,” Sollux said in reply, raising his fists to show two balls of red and blue energy, “so I’ve got to stop you.”_

_“Bullshit! Just walk away!” Mituna snarled, gathering his own powers in readiness to strike._

_The two Captors eyed each other, summoning as much power as possible – and then without warning they both struck._

_The twin beams of energy met in the middle and Sollux ground his teeth as the full force of Mituna’s power hit him._

_“How you doing, Captor?” Equius voice sounded tinny through his ear-piece, “I can stop any physical or projectile attacks but I can’t help with psiionics.”_

_“I’ve got this,” he lied, “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”_

_The energy ball was inexorably forcing itself back on him, and he could feel the electricity raising every hair on his head and thrumming under his skin._

_“Give up?” Mituna called from behind the wall of psiionics._

_Sollux didn’t trust himself to speak, but redoubled his efforts until his brain felt like it was pushing at the inside of his skull, and managed to deflect the huge bolt of energy down to the ground, where it narrowly avoided frying the sharp-shooter team._

_“Alright, nice one, GG.” Mituna said appraisingly, “But that was like, half power for me – so brace yourself – or, y’know, let me go fry Cronus and I’ll let you get out of here no questions asked.”_

_Half power? Are you fucking serious?_

_“No way,” Sollux muttered, shooting off a few warning blasts as Mituna tried to get past him._

_“Oh come on!” Mituna snarled, “Buzz off! …Fine, have it your way.”_

_Solllux managed to catch the second energy blast just in time – before it melted the skin from his bones, but the effort of fighting it off was causing his vision to blur and his pumpbiscuit to pound like a jackhammer in his chest._

_“Just let me through for fucks sake!” Mituna yelled in exasperation, sighing when Sollux resolutely shook his head (slowly; so as not to damage the brain that was trying to leak out of his ears), “FINE!! Well now I’m going to have to explode your FUCKING HEAD, aren’t I??”_

_The fact that Mituna looked unhappy about it wasn’t much in the way of consolation._

 

 

 

Looking through the sights of the rifle made Cronus feel vulnerable – unable as he was to survey the rest of the battle, but the fact that he wasn’t being electrified suggested that Sollux was holding his own, for now.

“Hows Damara?” he yelled, over the crackle of psiionic energy.

“Not important. Eyes on the transportaliser.” Eridan snapped back, and Cronus had to force himself to not reach over and give him a clout.

“Is she alive at least?”

“She’s fine kiddo,” Roxy called, “Now keep focused on the warp-pad thingy because I don’t really fancy getting clown-magicked if I can help it.”

“Alright,” Cronus muttered, just as Eridan swore loudly. “What?”

“It’s not Damara,” his dancestor said hurriedly, “It’s Meenah – I didn’t realise-“

Roxy had clearly taken her eyes off the _warp-pad thingy_ because she gasped too.

“ _What?_ ” Cronus hissed.

“She’s _already here_!!”

 

 

 

_Meenah had emerged from Aranea’s hive with her trident raised and a snarl on her lips. Before she could get involved with the Serkets’ battle, however, Karkat’s sickle came whistling down to block her trident._

_“Yeah, that’s right Nubs!” she cawed, spinning her trident and shooting it out to jab at Karkat’s stomach – a blow he only just managed to fend off with a shriek of metal-on-metal – “Show me your thresh skillz!”_

_Karkat grunted in exertion and span madly to keep up with the heavy swings of the trident. Meenah got one good jab in that he only managed to half deflect, the prongs of her weapon biting deep into his shoulder, but thankfully missing his hammering pumpbiscuit. He staggered forwards as she yanked the weapon free, but before she could get in a killing strike, Dirk came cantering past on his robohorse and pulled her to the ground by a handful of trailing braids._

_“Wow, Strider, I thought you were cool,” she screeched, her fins flaring wide and rancorous. As she began to stand up she had to throw herself back to the ground to avoid the swish of Dirk’s katana, and as she went to throw the trident full force at Dirk Rose’s needles stabbed hard into her back._

_“Yes! Strilondes represent,” Dirk crowed, and Rose gave a modest nod before yanking the needles back out of Meenah via the wool still wound to them._

_Karkat had managed to gather himself and he blocked the next few swings of the trident, allowing Rose time to scope out the field and report across everyone’s headsets:_

_“Horuss and Damara holding, but Porrim I think you need to get in there for backup;  Sollux – holding – just about; we’re keeping Meenah at bay for now, and sharpshooters –”_

_Meenah swung the trident round and clocked Rose in the head before Karkat or Dirk could react, and she went down hard, apparently unconscious. Karkat fended off the next few vicious blows, but Meenah got off a throw to Dirk that buried itself in his horse with a shower of sparks and sent him crashing to the ground._

_The horse’s legs twitched and jerked a few times, but it was clear the robot was out of commission, and Dirk groaned as he tried to lift the great metal beast off of his trapped leg._

_Meenah laughed triumphantly and dodged the next cut of Karkat’s sickle easily, booting him hard in the chest. Karkat choked up a gobbet of candy red blood, but still tried to warn Dirk as Meenah approached with a wordless yell._

_She took the time to kick Dirk hard in the ribs before reclaiming her trident from the belly of the horse, then put her full weight onto its metal body- forcing a scream from Dirk as it pushed down into his shattered leg._

_“Haddock enough yet?” she laughed, “I can keep this ship up all day.”_

 

 

 

“I think we need to get some more cover on Damara-” Cronus began, anxiously, after seeing Horuss just barely fend off Vriska’s latest attack – he couldn’t really tell from where he was, but was Damara clutching her head in pain – or just concentration-?

Roxy slapped his arm, jerking him back to earth.

“Clown boys!! Clown boys coming in – oh my god how are they running so _fast_?”

It was true; the Makaras moved in a sort of lolloping bound that covered an alarming amount of ground. 

“Dibs on Gamzee bee-tee-dubs.” she yelled, swivelling her rifle around to get Gamzee in her sights.

“Alright, don’t let them get through to back up the Serkets or Meenah.” Eridan muttered, getting Kurloz in his sights, “I’m on Kurloz – Cronus- look you can go cover Damara if you want.”

Cronus didn’t wait to reply, just set to sprinting up the hill, coming round from the side so as not to get embroiled in the fight with Meenah.

The second he deemed he had Aranea in range he dropped to one knee, panting with exertion, and aimed at her head. He took the shot – but she deflected it with an irritable wave of her hand and he cursed and ducked as a bolt of plasma came flying right back at him.

It was obvious at this range that, while Horuss was doing an admirable job of circling the Serkets with the robohorse- dodging Vriska’s attacks and getting in a few shots- he was only really _annoying_ them, like a persistent bloodfly.

At least he was keeping Vriska from focusing her powers on Damara – whose face was screwed up tight in- yes- pain as she battled Aranea. Unfortunately the smug look on Aranea’s face suggested that Damara wasn’t causing her much trouble.

“Hang in there Damz,” Cronus muttered, settling for taking pot shots at Aranea in between craning back to watch the Makaras progress.

 

 

 

_“How the shit are they doing that?” Roxy wailed, as Gamzee took another blast to the chest, fell to his knees for a moment, then got back up and kept running – faster and more furious than before._

_“I don’t know but it’s getting real fuckin’ annoying,” Eridan snarled, as Kurloz appeared two meters from where Eridan could swear he’d just dropped him with a headshot. “He’s chucklevoodooing me so I can’t hit him!” he cried in frustration when he realised what was going on._

_“Wait – so – they might not even be that far away!” Roxy hissed back, before,_

_“You got that motherfuckin’ right,” a deep voice hissed from right behind them – and two sets of heavy clubs came round to smash the sharpshooters into the ground._

 

 

 

Cronus caught sight of Porrim running up the hill from the other side and motioned at her to come join him at his mid-way position, before getting off another shot at Aranea. She deflected it again, sparing a second to shoot him a withering glare that, through the sights, he caught full force.

Turning the rifle round to check on Damara again he watched as Horuss just managed to avoid the flying snake that Vriska’s latest roll produced, and was turning around to check on Damara when Vriska’s delighted laugh made him whip back around.

Cronus almost dropped the rifle in shock. Her roll had produced some type of stone-ogre that let out a bone-jarringly loud roar and leapt straight for the robohorse.

Horuss pushed himself from the stirrups – sending the horse back theother way and landing fist-first in the stone-ogre’s chest.

“Atta boy,” Cronus muttered, feeling his heart restart after the thought of Damara being pulverised by that _thing_ stopped it cold.

However Damara wasn’t safe yet - in the twenty seconds it took Horuss to turn the stone ogre into something resembling a rockery that had been caught by a hurricane, Vriska turned her mind on Damara.

_Oh shit –oh no –_

Cronus started firing wildly, at both Serkets, and Damara held up for as long as she could, screaming and swearing in East Beforan, but just as Horuss finished with the ogre and got another arrow notched to scatter the Serkets, her back arched and she howled like her soul was being torn from her.

Deep burgundy blood sprayed from her mouth, nose, ears and eyes and she rose from the horse into the air briefly, surrounded by crackling energy, before dropping like a puppet with its strings cut, to crumple on the floor, gibbering weakly and trying to clutch at her head.

 “Damara!” Cronus screamed, slinging Ahab’s Crosshairs over his shoulder and sprinting for the top of the hill, determined to take the Serkets apart with his hands if he could -

_I shouldn’t have let her take them on alone- I should have known it’d be too hard- I should have been there-_

His admonishing thoughts ate at him as he sprinted up the rest of the hill, lungs burning in effort.

“Cronus!” Porrim yelled – also sprinting up the hill to join forces with Horuss against the Serkets.

Turning his head he caught Porrim’s frantic signs: “ _Don’t lose your head, keep focused_.”

 _Easy for you to say, your moirail’s not bleeding out in the_ _dirt_. He thought bitterly, then immediately regretted the thought – they were _here_ because of what had been done to her moirail, and he would never wish harm on Kankri just to spite Porrim. _Like for fuck’s sake, what the hell’s wrong with you-?_

Horuss was fighting with everything he had, lashing out with his powerful fists, and using his bow as a staff – bringing it whistling round through the air to attack, even getting one or two arrows loosed in the midst of his whirling attacks.

Unfortunately, now that Damara wasn’t holding their psychic abilities at bay, hardly any of his blows were landing – as Vriska or Aranea would block them with a wave of their hand.

 _At least he’s giving them a run for their money_. They didn’t have a chance at manipulating anyone else while they were preoccupied with Horuss, although he was clearly tiring – the knife wounds he had received had been joined by a hundred other injuries, and his sweat-dampened clothes were also drenched in dark indigo blood.

“ _Go around the back_ ,” Porrim signed as they reached the zenith of the hill, and flicked her skin to luminous to ensure she would have the Serkets’ full attention.

“Want another taste, Aranea?” Porrim snarled through lengthening fangs, and revving her chainsaw menacingly,

“Try me!” Aranea laughed, just as Cronus came flying up from behind her and taking her down by her neck.

She rallied magnificently and sent him flying off her, but the attack had clearly shaken her, as the next attacks Horuss, Porrim and Cronus attempted to rain down on the Serkets met an impenetrable wall of psychic deflection.

Finally an arrow from Horuss got through, breaching their defences and piercing Vriska thigh -dropping her briefly in shock.

With the psychic wall weakened and opponents so close, Aranea had no choice but to pull out her own dice.

“Lucky me,” she purred, as the first roll produced a storm of localised acid rain.

 

 

 

_The Makaras made a beeline for where the Captors were locked in a psiionic standoff – and where Equius was circling below on his horse, relaying battle information across his headset._

_“Mr Captor looks to be weakening – prepare for possibility of Mituna on the offensive; Porrim and Cronus have joined Horuss with the Serkets; Miss Medigo looks to be permanently down; Meenah locked in combat with Karkat, Dirk and Rose; uh, radio silence from the sharpshooters for the last three minutes – any news?”_

_“Yeah I got some motherfucking news,” Gamzee laughed, now heading for Equius at a dead run- but before he could reach the robohorse a blur of green and blue flashed past him and tugged sharply at one long horn, sending him crashing to the ground._

_Gamzee honked in confusion and Kurloz pulled up sharply as Nepeta flashed by, her claws racking deep gashes across his chest._

_“Nepeta? Nepeta is that you? Get out of there! I’ll handle them!” Equius’ worried voice squawked down the intercom and Nepeta stopped for long enough to wrinkle her nose and reply,_

_“You stay where you were told to and guard Sollux- I’ve got this!”_

_“Nepeta? No- wait – don’t take your headset off-!” but she was already throwing the little earpiece to the ground._

_She eyed up the two Makaras, who towered over her almost comically, before cracking her knuckles and grinning._

_Nepeta moved like lightning; dodging every swing of the clubs and reaching through every opening to slash and stab with her claws until the ground was patterned with purple blood. Sweeps of taking on beasts three-times her size had prepared her perfectly for large opponents, and she kept the Makaras so distracted they didn’t have time to reach for their chucklevoodoos._

_As Gamzee swung his club down again she caught it and, using her whole body weight, flipped so it was wrenched out of his hands, then leaped forward to avoid Kurloz’s swing, landing on Gamzee’s chest and pushing off with her feet - sending herself flying back towards Kurloz, where she buried her claws up to their hilts in his stomach._

_“I’d say those moves were miraculous if that wasn’t such mother fuckin blasphemy.” Gamzee drawled as Kurloz staggered backwards._

_Nepeta turned to him, licking a string of purple gore from her claws._

_“Shut the fuck up Makara,” she replied sweetly, “I’m going to tear you right the fuck apart.”_

 

 

 

The acid bit deeply into them, burning and burrowing beneath their skin and corroding their horns.

Cronus tried to protect his head with his arms and just supressed a cry as the pain made him want to curl into a ball – anything to avoid the onslaught. As he watched one of Horuss’ horns burned almost right through, hanks of his long hair facing a similar fate and falling out- and Porrim whimpered as her usual amount of exposed skin meant she suffered the worst burns.

Luckily, she was a quick thinker and quickly pulled clothes at random from her sylladex, throwing a handful at him and Horuss, and using the dress left in her hands to wipe the stinging droplets from her skin and protect herself from the worst of it.

“Attack now, before she can,” she signed at Cronus- and he tensed to obey, but then a garbled cry cut through the thick air and his blood ran cold.

_Damara. She’s still alive – still conscious – and being burned alive-_

 

_Sollux could feel the cracks forming in his mind as Mituna’s psiionics forced power he had no hope of containing through every synapse and pathway of his brain._

_He knew if he couldn’t hold him at bay his dancestor would wipe the floor with any opponent that tried to take him on - but they were so unevenly matched._

_He wondered briefly what force it was that could have possibly broken Mituna in his session- whatever it was would have had to be formidable, as Mituna’s brand of relentless electric onslaught was like nothing Sollux had ever felt. He had already lost all feeling in his limbs and a sickening numbness was creeping up into the base of his skull._

_“Just two more minutes, I can hold him off for two more minutes…”_

_The thought itself came lazy and beleaguered as he was using almost his full mental capacity to hold himself in the air._

_Was it a hallucination bought on by pain and exertion – or was the very sky electrified, pulsating and shattering around him?_

_Mituna was holding his fingers at his temples to direct his power – but now he grunted in exertion, and pushed his hands out, a crackling wall of energy shooting from them to attack Sollux’s flimsy wall of defence._

_“Nothing personal, man” his dancestor spat out as Sollux started to feel parts of his brain going dark, “seriously - nothing personal.”_

_As Sollux felt the blood begin to trickle from his eyes like tears, his last conscious thought was, “KK’s gunna fucking kill me for doing this again.”_

 

 

 

Cronus was cradling Damara in his arms, ignoring the acid that burned his back as he tried to shield her more fully, when Karkat and Eridan let out simultaneous, furious screams.

Cronus looked up blearily to see Sollux’s body plummeting like a stone out of the sky. Mituna, outlined against an electrified sky, collected himself before locking Cronus in his sights and flying in straight for him, a pugilistic expression on his face.

 “Leave Ampora! Help _us_!” Aranea screamed as he swept in, but Mituna ignored her.

“Hang in there Damz, come on,” Cronus hissed, trying to ignore the fact that she had stopped responding a minute ago and was barely breathing now.

He was loathe to leave her, but before he could really prepare himself Mituna came in like a freight train, slamming hard into Cronus and throwing him a good twenty feet, where he landed face-first in the dirt.

As he tried to rise Mituna stamped hard on his shoulders and sent an electric shock running through him that made Cronus scream in agony, jerking and twitching and sobbing as every cell in his body protested.

Mituna kicked him hard in the kidneys to turn him over, and said,

“It pains me to do this bro,” before laughing and obnoxiously wiping an imaginary tear from his eye, “Wait – what am I talking about? It ain’t gunna pain _me_ at all!”

Cronus braced himself, but before Mituna could release the next built-up charge directly into his heart, Karkat slammed into Mituna, slicing his chest and arms with the frantic swing of his sickle.

“THAT’S. FOR. EXPLODING. SOLLUX. ASSHOLE.” He screamed between swings, and Cronus used the respite to pull himself to his feet – _wait, who was Karkat covering? And who’s left with the Serkets now?_

He didn’t let himself think about Damara.

Mituna electrified Karkat’s sickle and he screamed again, flinging it away in disgust.

“Come on then,” Mituna snarled at the two of them, a red energy ball forming in his left hand as a blue one formed in his right, “ _Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough!”_

 

 

 

_Roxy had managed to shake the blurriness from her vision and stood up determinedly, dragging Eridan up by his jumper._

_“Hey, c’mon Erry – we got some bad guy butt to kick – you wanna help Karkat or -? Eridan?”_

_Eridan was frozen, shivering and clutching at the shattered base of his horn._

_“Hey you okay?”_

_Eridan nodded, but the rictus his face had become suggested otherwise._

_“Oh-kay, look Nepeta’s on the clown boys and Kanaya’s jumped in to help with the Serkets so I gotta help out Di-Stri- because he and mom ain’t doing so hot against alt-universe space hitler. Good luck tho.”_

_She gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile and dashed up the hill to where Meenah was decimating her ecto-family._

_A rifle-shot that missed Meenah’s head by a hair’s-breadth - scorching her cheek and cutting free a braid - got her attention and she whirled to face Roxy, allowing Dirk to almost sever her right arm with a powerful up-swing of the Katana._

_Roxy gave Dirk a weak smile that he managed to return – despite being coated in blood and sweat, and limping on what was a clearly shattered leg – and Meenah let out a bellow that set her teeth on edge before flicking her trident into the air and snatching it with her left hand, twirling it just as dexterously as she did with the right._

_“Lucky shot. You only get one though. Now it’s my turn.”_

 

Cronus dodged another bolt of energy, feeling the side of his face crackle and burn - thankful for Karkat distracting the psiionic with his sickle.

_If this was one on one I’d be fucking charcoal already._

As it was, whenever Mituna focused on one of them the other would dart in – Cronus had long abandoned his rifle since Mituna could grab the bolts of plasma straight out of the air, supercharge them and send them right back - however, although Mituna’s psiionics were incredibly strong, he was physically weak – having never bothered to train in hand to hand. Karkat and Cronus were taking full advantage of that fact, as Mituna’s broken right arm and numerous sickle wounds could attest.

As Mituna turned to blast Karkat Cronus caught him in a headlock and held on for as long as he could manage before the electric burns to his leg and arm became too much.

As he staggered backwards Mituna fell to his knees choking and gasping – but neither Cronus nor Karkat were in any position to attack, shaking and cradling their burns as they were.

When Cronus got his pain under control Mituna was still on his knees- but surrounded by a sparking energy cloud. Hearing Cronus stand Mituna looked over his shoulder and his eyes were incandescent with power.

“ _Jjjjjust ttttttry ttttthat aggggggggain,”_ Mituna hissed, rising into the air.

Cronus only had time to think “ _oh shit”_ before the power hit and his brain shut down.

 

 

 

_Nepeta seemed tireless and she ducked and weaved around the Makaras blows, using them as springboards and scratching posts respectively._

_The Makaras for their part were panting and exhausted, but propelled by sheer mad fury to keep up the fight. Gamzee was now completely blind, and choking blood through a mouthful of shattered teeth - and Kurloz’s left arm hung limp and useless thanks to the severed tendons Nepeta had dealt him._

_As something flickered in the sky she heard a voice that might have been Equius’ – but she didn’t let it distract her, leaping out of reach of Kurloz’s next attack and springing up Gamzee’s back – using her claws to clamber up the tender flesh there and then wrapping her strong legs around his arms so all he could do was scream his rage as she bit a chunk out of his throat._

_She was just about to congratulate herself on taking down one of her attackers when the image of Kurloz she could see before her flickered and disappeared, and a strong hand wrapped around her throat._

_“Turn around, straight in front of you brother.” Kurloz rasped and the look of glee on Gamzee’s face was nothing short of horrendous as empty, gore-stained sockets bored into her. She jerked and gasped in Kurloz’s hold -_

_“NEPETA!” there it was again – that cry-_

_Gamzee didn’t bother to find his weapon, simply reaching forward to grip her face, and then crushing – splintering bone and teeth and –_

_“NEPETA!” Equius didn’t arrive in time to save her and the bellow he let out as her skull caved in was deafening._

_He launched himself from his horse to tackle both Makaras and hit them like a ton of bricks, slamming them into the dust._

_Kurloz managed to wrench himself free of the carnage, having his other arm and several ribs broken in the process- but Equius barely noticed, going to town, as he was, on Gamzee’s feebly honking form._

_First the arms and legs were broken with earthshattering blows, then the ribs were cracked wide open and Equius used the tip of a broken arrow to slice deep into Gamzee’s stomach, ripping and tearing at the bones and soft innards inside._

_When he was done Gamzee looked almost like an abstract painting._

_“I was informed you couldn’t die.” Equius spat, shuddering at the sight of thick purple blood coating his arms and chest, “If that’s true then I hope you’re still suffering, because you deserve it, highblood or no.”_

_He reached with trembling hands to touch Nepeta’s limp frame, not daring to turn her over and see what the Makaras had made of her._

_“I wish you’d have listened to me.” He whispered mournfully, stroking her hair and ignoring the screams of his comrades in his headset._

 

 

***

 

 

_The Strilondes outnumbered Meenah three to one, but she was wearing them down – and laughed at the injuries they managed to inflict on her. Dirk in particular was struggling, his broken leg making just standing agony and a blow to his ribs had made breathing almost impossible._

_“Dirk – do you want to “tag out” with Kanaya?” Rose yelled, dodging the stab of the trident, then dodging again as Meenah flattened herself to avoid another blast of Roxy’s rifle._

_“Fuck. Yes.” He gasped and nodded his thanks to Kanaya when she leapt in, dashing off for a breather before joining the fray with the Serkets at the top of the hill, where Porrim and Horuss were only just holding their own._

_Kanaya ran in, face set in determination – and at the first swing of Meenah’s trident her chainsaw sliced the weapon neatly in half. Meenah tried to take the other half in her right hand – before remembering how badly sliced it had been and crying out, dropping it._

_Roxy used the second’s opening to raise Ahab’s Crosshairs and-_

_But Meenah had been feinting. She reached out with her right hand and snapped the rifle in half, before bringing round the trident half she had in her left hand and disembowelling Roxy in one deft move._

_Roxy didn’t scream or cry out – just looked down, shocked at the mess of her own guts, before staggering back a few steps and folding up in a little heap._

_“Cod glubbin DAMN IT that hurts,” Meenah groaned, looking down at her right arm, now attached by only a few tendons. Catching Rose’s shocked expression she laughed cruelly, “Yep - one loser down, some more losers to go.”_

_She went for Rose then, but Kanaya leapt in, trident clashing with chainsaw blades. As they struggled Meenah stamped down hard on Kanaya’s ankle, making her yell and collapse, bone broken._

_Rose had got round to Meenah’s other side and her needles bit into Meenah’s raised arm – stopping her from throwing the trident, but Meenah was in a full-on blood frenzy by then, and she barely looked at Rose as she span and dropped her with a wicked kick to the stomach, turning back to focus on Kanaya, trident raised._

_“I wonder if rainbow drinkers can survive what I’m a-boat to do to you?” she asked, her voice distorted by her rage and how stretched her extended fins had pulled her vocal cords._

_She didn’t find out, however, as – just as she released the trident- Eridan threw himself between Kanaya and the weapon, taking it full in the chest._

_“Why do Amporas always gotta glub everyfin up?” Meenah snarled, reaching around for the other half of the trident._

_“Oh I dunno,” Eridan gasped, pulling the tines back through his heart and lungs, “I think I’m handlin’ this admirably.” Throwing the trident expertly he watched it smash into Meenah’s skull, piercing her head, before he collapsed, life evaporating with every pulse as his violet blood pumped out of him._

_“Thank you,” Kanaya murmured, holding his hands as he twitched and spasmed and cried out in his last seconds, “Thank you Eridan.”_

_“Kanaya, watch out!” Rose screamed hoarsely – and Kanaya turned to see Meenah somehow staggering upright, pulling the trident from her head._

_Her skull was half caved in, with one eye socket crushed beyond repair – but she was still somehow alive despite the holes in her head, face and neck._

_When she tried to speak all that came out was a guttural grunting sound as she dribbled saliva and fuchsia blood. She seemed to be having difficulty balancing – but she nevertheless staggered towards Kanaya, arms outstretched and fingers grasping for her throat -_

_***_

_At the top of the hill Vriska screamed in horror at the gory mess that had been made of her matesprit, and turned her back on Horuss just long enough for him to smash her into the ground._

_Horuss felt the satisfying snap of bones beneath his hands and turned to help the steadily weakening Porrim and Dirk against Aranea’s onslaught – except he found himself turning and heading down the hill instead, running at full tilt for his dancestor who was crumpled in profound misery over his moirail._

_He tried to call out a warning but instead found himself yanking off one of Nepeta’s claws off of her limp hands and stabbing it up to the hilt in Equius’ chest._

_Equius turned shocked indigo eyes on him before collapsing and Horuss yanked the claws free to write a message in the dirt using the fountain of blood as ink._

_T8KE TH8T 8SSH8LE!!!!!!!!_

_He reached out to write more when he found himself free of Vriska’s influence – a scream from up the hill made him jerk round – anything to keep his mind off what he had just done- and he was in time to see Kanaya’s chainsaw slice Vriska neatly in half – severing her at the waist._

_Horuss was about to re-join the fight – determined to take out Aranea before anyone else could be mind-grabbed - but as he reached the summit he found himself aiming for Kanaya._

_“No!” he managed to choke out hoarsely, but his fingers closed round her neck all the same, and he heard Vriska scream “YESSSSSSSS!” through a bubble of blood as she bled out by their feet._

_Kanaya turned an alarming shade of white and scrabbled ineffectually at his hands – all he could do was apologise with his eyes as her bones ground and snapped under his hands and jade blood ran from her eyes._

_The second Vriska died Horuss let go and jerked back, expecting Kanaya to crumple to the ground – but instead she stood stock still, taking in neat little gasps of air and letting her fingers flutter around the dark bruises on her throat._

_“Kanaya – are you?” Rose’s face was flushed and shiny with sweat and tears as she came staggering up to the top of the hill._

_Kananya opened her mouth, but nothing came out, so instead she mouthed “I’ll be okay,” and Rose let out a single sob of relief before gathering herself._

_“Thank Skaia you’re a rainbow drinker.”_

_Kanaya twitched her mouth into a smile to agree – but her eyes widened in shock a moment later, as Meenah’s grotesque face appeared behind Rose._

_Kanaya opened her mouth as if to shout a warning, but she needn’t have bothered – Meenah wasn’t going for Rose._

_Instead, she ran past them to Vriska’s body – turning back to stab her half-trident into Kanaya’s head almost as an afterthought._

_“KANAYA!” Rose screamed, grief and fury cracking her usually calm façade, as Kanaya’s ‘drinker light flickered and went out._

_Her voice was raw, but steely professional over the headsets when she barked:_

_“That’s Nepeta, Roxy, Sollux, Damara, Eridan, Kanaya and Equius down for us. Gamzee and Vriska down for them. Porrim and Dirk are taking Aranea and Horuss and I will join them as soon as we take out Meenah. Cronus and Karkat good luck with Mituna – Kurloz approaching! Watch your back, Kurloz approaching!”_

_“I’ve got her,” Horuss said gravely, indicating Meenah, “Join the others with Aranea – keep her distracted, don’t let her…”_

_“Got it.” Rose said quietly, “Good luck.”_

_Horuss nodded his thanks and then picked Meenah up from where she was crumpled over Vriska’s body by her throat,_

_“I am, of course, most terribly sorry about this,” he muttered, blinking sweat out of his eyes._

_Meenah snarled something unintelligible and then drew herself up to kick him hard in the hip – he felt something crunch and dropped her, staggering backwards._

_Meenah had lost her agility, but she was still at least as strong as Horuss, and the blows they rained down upon each other would have pulverised the bones of most other trolls._

_“I hope you understand why I have to do this,” Horuss grunted, dodging a punch and using the momentum of his turn to flick out a leg and swipe her feet out from under her._

_“I really am most terribly sorry.”_

 

 

 

Cronus blinked and was pleasantly surprised to find himself _not dead._

Then the pain hit and a part of him wished he was,

Burns from the acid rains and psiionic attacks covered most of his upper body and the latest attack left his heart juddering in his chest and his vision spotty and blurred. He gasped and cried weakly for a moment before forcing the pain down and struggling to his feet.

_Why has no one attacked me yet?_

In fact, a more pertinent question would be “where is everyone?” since Cronus appeared to be standing in a field of blinding fog.

A shiver ran down his spine as voices as the edge of hearing whispered maliciously.

Wait – he knew this sensation – _chucklevoodoos._

 

 

_Aranea was still mentally deflecting attacks, but she couldn’t concentrate for long enough to control any of her opponents, and as she tired she was relying evermore the roll of her dice to fend off Porrim, Rose and Dirk – who were fuelled by rage, grief, and sheer stubbornness respectively._

_“Has it been worth it?” she snarled as she sent Rose flying back again and aimed an attack at Dirk- who barely dodged it, crying out as his shattered leg took his weight,. “Watching them all die because you think, as the_ good guys _,” the word sounded like a profanity in her mouth, “you can just command everyone to lay down their lives for something so flimsy as a principle.”_

_Porrim didn’t answer, just leapt again with her chainsaw screaming hungrily – unable to look at Rose or Dirk in case their grief made her falter._

_“You can’t just do whatever the fuck you want,” Dirk snarled, avoiding the rodent of unusual size that had materialised with a graceful front flip, landing on his good leg and only barely crying out as the landing jarred his injured leg, “And if we didn’t stop you now, who knows how far you would have taken things.”_

_“Is that what you think?” Aranea laughed, the sound brittle and manic, “Well I’ll let you explain that to your friends later - when they ask where Roxy is, shall I?”_

_Dirk faltered just long enough for Aranea to send a hail of poison darts at him – a much better roll than before, she noted with satisfaction – but before she could feel too pleased Rose’s needles stabbed deep into her arm and sent the dice flying._

_When the needles were torn free Aranea could barely lift her remaining arm to fend off Porrim’s next attack, and she was so busy focusing on that that Rose’s got in again, stabbing her needles into Aranea thigh and eating into an important artery, judging by the spray of cobalt blood that burst forth._

_Aranea howled in fury and narrowed her eyes,_

_Right-_

 

 

Cronus barely bit back his moan of terror as Kurloz’s chucklevoodos engulfed him and Karkat in the freezing, blinding fog. Strange creatures skittered at the edges of his vision, and dark figures loomed before him only to melt away as he wasted precious energy on trying to attack them.

Kurloz may be physically weak right now – but, as a club came slamming into his ribs, Cronus reflected that he didn’t need to be strong or fast when his opponents were powerless to retaliate.

He groped out blindly for his attacker, sucking in air desperately and trying not to black out again despite the screaming pain from his re-broken ribs – but Kurloz had apparently moved on. A moment later Karkat screamed furiously somewhere in the fog.

Cronus braced himself for the next attack, determined to try grab the club – and take Kurloz apart with his hands if he had to-

_Of course, it’ll Mituna that attacks next, and then it’s all over._

The thought chilled him to the bone, and when he heard Mituna’s yell he thought his heart would stop in fear – except no crackle of energy came to tear him apart – and Karkat was still swearing loudly off to his right somewhere, so what was going on?

The yell came again, and this time he could make out Mituna’s frantic words.

“Stop! Kurloz! Babe – you gotta stop you’re getting me too – I don’t wanna be voodooed – Kurloz!!”

Kurloz voice appeared in his mind, the words sounding deep and cold as if emanating from a deep well:

_CAN’T CONTROL THE RADIUS. JUST HANG ON FOR TWO MOTHER FUCKIN MINUTES_

“I _can’t_!” Mituna wailed, “Please make it stop- make it go away – Kurloz! _Kurloz!?”_

The fog cleared instantly, and Cronus saw Mituna flash a looked of apologetic relief at Kurloz before Karkat was on him, sawing his sickle hard across Mituna’s throat. A spray of golden blood fountained forth and Karkat kicked Mituna’s unresisting body into a growing pool of his own blood, before spitting furiously at the twitching body.

Kurloz looked incandescent with rage, his eyes flashing orange and his thin lips peeled back to display his fangs.

He let out a honk that made Karkat nearly jump out of his skin, and had his claws deep in Karkat’s guts before Cronus could drop him with a neat shot to the head.

Kurloz went down instantly, the hole in his head large enough to see Karkat’s shocked face through before he fell, and Cronus allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction before dashing forwards to Karkat’s aid.

“Hey, Kar, you doing alright?” Cronus asked. Since Karkat was holding his hands tight over his stomach to keep his insides _inside_ , it felt like a stupid question the moment the words fell from his lips.

“Kar?” Karkat seemed transfixed by the candy red blood pulsing through his fingers, a look of utter horror on his face.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he rasped, scrubbing his tears on his shoulder and looking down at Kurloz’s body.

“Is he…?”

“I’m fairly sure he’s not getting up from that one, chief.” Cronus said hollowly.

“He looks so _small_ …” Karkat’s voice was distant now and he looked dangerously pale.

“I’m going after Meenah – maybe you should sit this one out.” Cronus said, taking Karkat by the shoulders to steer him somewhere he could sit.

Instead Karkat shrugged him off angrily, “I’m coming with you – let’s just fucking finish this.”

He looked terrified and sobbed as he spoke, but the determination in his voice was iron.

“Alright, c’mon then,” Cronus said, handing Karkat his sickle back, and trying not to notice how hard Karkat’s other hand clutched at the gaping hole in his stomach, “Let’s go.”

 

 

_The next roll was incredibly lucky – for Aranea._

_A razor sharp wire-whip came arcing round, slicing through Porrim’s midriff like a knife through hot butter._

_It would have cut Rose in half too if Dirk, shaking and green from the poison darts, hadn’t slammed her to the ground, letting the wire dissect him, instead._

_He made a surprised little grunt as his torso slid and fell to the ground, and was dead before his legs could fold up next to it._

_Porrim had been similarly cut in half, but being a rainbow drinker she had a chance at surviving the attack, and was busy using a needle and thick cord to put in stitches at the hips and stomach to keep her two halves attached. The bottom half of her dress fell uselessly to the ground around her feet and Aranea would have stared at the lingerie if she didn’t have other things to deal with – like the currently unprotected Rose Lalonde, spitting dirt and trying to raise herself shakily from the ground as her ecto-father’s blood soaked into her dress and hair._

_As Aranea focused Rose found herself reaching out for Dirk’s katana, instead of her needles, and managed to whisper a mildly sarcastic “oh no” before she was forced to slit her own throat with the blade._

_Arena watched Rose die with satisfaction, before surveying the field – who could she control next-?_

_But Porrim was on her again, moving carefully so as not to let herself snap in half. Her chainsaw bit deep into Aranea’s shoulder before she managed to jerk back and deflect the attack._

_“You know it’s rather discourteous of you not to die when you’re supposed to,” Aranea gasped, trying to staunch the blood that was leaving her at an alarming rate from far too many wounds._

_“Yeah, well, it’s rather discourteous of you to be such an evil murderous bitch all the time,” Porrim spat back, shocked at her own use of the word “bitch” and groaning inwardly as she realised that that was Cronus’ influence on her._

_Thinking of Cronus_ –

 

 

 

Meenah snapped Horuss’ neck just as Cronus and Karkat arrived on the scene. She turned the shattered remains of her face to them and spat a gobbet of fushia blood at their feet.

Cronus jerked back in horror, and Meenah grabbed at his rifle, crushing the barrel and rendering it useless. However Karkat hadn’t hesitated and he leapt forwards, sickle raised -

Meenah slammed him hard into the ground and he screamed as his wound burst open further, his slimy guts spilling into the dirt.

“Sozzzz nuh-nubs,” Meenah slurred, dribbling blood and spit as she staggered to stay upright, “I allll-wuh-wuh-ways liked you.”

“Yeah, same,” Karkat spat, flicking his arm up to cut her throat as she leant over him.

Meenah choked – shocked - and collapsed, landing hard on Karkat and almost drowning him in bright pink blood.

“Kar-?” Cronus began, hands slipping as he tried to drag Meenah off him.

“Go,” Karkat cried weakly, “Just go – I’m dead already.”

He was right, but Cronus felt awful leaving him.

The sky flickered and crackled above them as he arrived at the top of the hill – to see Porrim and Aranea locked in hand to hand combat.

Aranea was bleeding profusely from deep chainsaw bites and cuts all over her body and Porrim was drenched in jade blood from- from-

“ _Did you cut my kismesis in half?”_ Cronus roared, ignoring the pain from his burns as he sprinted forward, yanking Aranea off of Porrim and hurling her into the dirt.

Black rage overcoming his senses he snatched up Dirk’s katana from Rose’s lifeless fingers and brought it down hard on her remaining arm, severing it, before using his teeth to tear out her throat.

_Thanks for teaching me that trick, Porrim-_

Aranea jerked and screamed furiously but the light was leaving her eyes. Cronus was content to sit and watch it go – but at the last moment her lips quirked up into a triumphant smile and Cronus felt an icy pain in his chest.

Looking down he saw Dirk’s Katana protruding six inches out of his front, as he reached to touch it it was yanked out- and came stabbing in again through his stomach. He stood and staggered away from Aranea as she laughed and choked and bled -

A hand curled round his ankle and Cronus looked down to see Porrim, coming apart at the seams and spilling blood and guts into the dirt.

He couldn’t feel his limbs anymore, so he just threw himself down beside her, landing so his head was by her knees, and they curled in to be as close as possible.

“I’ve got you,” she whispered, stroking his cheek as they shivered and died by degrees.

“Hey now, you’re not vacilitating on me are you?” he croaked, giving her the shittiest grin he could summon up, and she laughed weakly.

“Don’t flatter yourself, arsehole.”

A spasm of pain ripped through Cronus and he moaned, crying weakly, too far gone to care if Porrim saw.

“It’s okay,” Porrim crooned, holding his hand tightly

“Damara-“

“Don’t think about it, it’s going to be okay.”

“Kankri-”

“Shoosh, I mean it – everything’s going to be okay.”

Cronus clutched at her hands desperately, “Yeah? How’d you work that one out?” he choked.

“Look up.” She whispered.

Cronus looked up, the sky was a maelstrom of light and pulsating energy.

“I don’t… Porrim…?” he implored, crying weakly as their blood intermingled on the field of slaughter.

“It’s starting again,” she whispered, reaching out to stroke his face lightly, “The universe – it’s starting again – we’ll be okay, Kankri will be fine – and we can all be together…” her voice was weak and Cronus was loath to hurt her at a time like this, but he couldn’t help but voice his last thought.

“How do you know for sure?”

She smiled, just as jade tears poured down her face.

“I don’t.”

 

 

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

Cronus couldn’t breathe. His lungs were burning and his windpipe was an ever-constricting straw as he gasped and sputtered, trying to ignore the twin stab wounds in his chest and stomach that flooded his veins with ice – a pain too intense for him to do anything but crouch and hyperventilate – crying out would only make it worse -

A noise in front of him made his head snap up – it was – it was-

For a moment he couldn’t process what he was seeing, and then parts of his brain so far frozen in mindless terror began to thaw.

“You doing okay down there?” Porrim asked softly, looking down at where he was crouched between the refrigerator and the wall of his nutritionblock.

She didn’t turn on the light or open any of the black-out blinds that kept the burning sun at bay, just illuminated her skin, and took a closer look at him.

Cronus knew he must look awful. Two weeks after the universe had reset, and the elation of finally being out of the game had passed, the daymares had begun. Barely a day went past when Cronus didn’t hurl himself from sleep, shaking and panting and covered in sweat.

Sometimes he wasn’t even asleep – just doing some mundane task or having a simple conversation – when a flashback to Kankri’s attack, or one of the awful fights they’d had on their quest for revenge – would slam into his brain and leave him a wreck for the rest of the day.

The worst ones were always the memories from the final battle – watching Damara snap and explode; watching Porrim quietly bleed and die before him; _feeling himself die_ in her arms.

Cronus realised Porrim was waiting for a reply, but he barely had his breath back and couldn’t quite trust himself to speak, so he just gave her a thumbs up.

Porrim pursed her lips, then said, “I’ll get Damara.”

“No,” he gasped, lurching forward to grab at her leg. He wasn’t the only one affected like this and it wasn’t fair to wake someone else who barely got enough sleep as it was, “Don’t wanna wake her. Didn’t wanna wake Kan.”

Porrim paused where she stood and Cronus realised with rising embarrassment what a miserable figure he must make, clinging to her ankle on his hands and knees.

“Okay, well, I’m not leaving you while you’re like this,” she said softly, helping him off the ground and leaning him up against the nutritionblock counter.

Cronus couldn’t seem to take his hands away from where he could _feel_ the stab wounds, but Porrim gently prised them off, murmuring softly all the while, and leaned his head against her shoulder so she could rub soothing circles into his back.

“It’s okay, you’re okay, everyone’s safe, remember? Deep breaths, that’s it…”

She spoke matter-of-factly, trying not to impinge on Damara’s territory – but at this point, with Damara, Porrim, Kankri and Cronus all pretty much living under one roof, everyone’s quadrants had all began to bleed into one another’s anyway. That sort of thing was inevitable, Cronus told himself, as his kissmesis pulled him back from the brink of his panic.

Indeed – Damara and Porrim had certainly been acting rather… _red_ towards one another recently  -and Kankri and Damara’s black flirting had been going on for weeks – it was only a matter of time before it was made official…

 _This amount of co-dependancy can’t be healthy._ He mused as his breathing began to even out and the world came back into focus – _but then, after what we went through, I don’t think anyone could blame us… And it’s all working out okay – for now –_

“Better?” Porrim whispered, and he pulled back, just stopping himself from putting his hands back over the imaginary wounds.

“Mmm. Better. Sorry.”

“I get them too,” she said, shrugging, “You don’t have to be sorry. But right now you’d better go to bed – because if Kanny wakes up and you’re not there I’ll have to comfort _him_ too – and I’ve got important ‘drinker business to get to while there’s still some sunlight left.”

“Weirdo,” Cronus muttered, making to go back to his bedroom.

Porrim caught him by the shoulder and kissed him lightly, nipping at his lower lip and drawing beads of violet blood _on_ _purpose like every damn time-_

“Idiot.” She whispered, grinning wickedly before stepping out the door.

 

 

Cronus took a moment in the ablutionblock to splash water over his face and neck – and to sneak a look under his t-shirt at where he was sure he should have two gaping wounds.

But not even scars remained to assure him the battle had even happened. He ran his fingertips over the smooth skin of his chest and stomach, as if the scars could just be invisible, but finally conceded that he was probably going to be okay.

_After all, Damara’s not a vegetable, Porrim’s not cut in half and Kan-_

A cough from the door made him spin, but before any more panic could take hold, the flash of red he saw calmed him, and Kankri swan into view.

“Where’d you go?” Kankri yawned, reaching out for Cronus and sleepily tugging at his t-shirt with his hands – _with his own hands he’s fine, we’re all fine-_ “Come back to bed, s’too early to get up.”

Cronus followed Kankri back to where they were sleeping on the closest thing they could make to a human bed without access to alchemising technology. They’d got too used to sleeping in sheets – and Kankri didn’t like the feeling sopor gave him anymore – it feeling far too much like the numbing agent given to him without various operations were done on his wrists and mouth…

“Sorry I woke you up.” Cronus grunted, dropping down heavily next to Kankri and wrapping an arm around his slight frame.

“Not your fault.” Kankri muttered, wriggling closer, his body like a spaceheater against seadweller coolness. “Had a dream about Aranea – doesn’t matter though.” He added quickly, before Cronus could question him about it.

His shiver had nothing to do with the cold body pushed up against him, and Cronus kissed his neck, then pulled him closer, no comforting words to say this time.

Aranea was monitored by the local community med-centre, like all highbloods without a moirail, but she was still free and walking the streets with the rest of them- except for Kurloz, who was apparently in a clinic somewhere to treat what was apparently a fairly common purple-blood state.

They had been returned to Beforus with their houses and belongings, and integrated back into the system – except none of them had been called up for work detail or contacted much by authorities. Considering the huge bank balances they had returned to, Porrim had suggested this was a reward of the game, but Cronus sometimes wished the game had seen fit to return his lusus…

It seemed like they _could_ work if they wanted – Horuss was working for the cavalreapers, introducing a squadron of robotic mounts that had the top brass very impressed, but Cronus hadn’t been called up to military training – and Mituna hadn’t been called for helmsman induction, either.

And, as it was, no one was batting an eyelid at such an anomaly as a lowblood, a mutant, a rainbow drinker and a seadweller living together most of the time. _We sound like the premise for a shitty sitcom for fucks sake…_

Inevitably the thought arose: if the authorities were turning a blind eye to them, where did they turn if Aranea ever attacked again?

Porrim had apparently spoken to her and reported that she was on a lot of medication and had had enough bloodshed for one lifetime. But Cronus didn’t buy it. _I’m never going to be able to trust her, she’s too clever, too ruthless and too good a liar…_

He nuzzled into Kankri’s hair and tried to turn his brain off, but after an hour of tossing and turning, he let out a huff of annoyance, and Kankri said quietly,

“Cronus?”

“Mmm?”

“You still awake?”

“ _Obviously,”_

 _“_ Can’t say I appreciate the tone, but I’ll let you off since your pan is clearly addled by lack of sleep,” Kankri mumbled, draping himself over Cronus’ chest and planting little kisses to his gills.

“Mmm stop,” Cronus groaned, “Too sleepy.”

The second Kankri pulled back, however, he changed his mind.

“Wait you know what- I know something that might wear us out.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Kankri in the dim evening light of the bedroom, and Kankri groaned.

“Stop. Gross.”

“Stop?” Cronus asked, flipping Kankri and flashing his shark grin, “You want me to stop, is that it?” he mumbled, pressing kisses to Kankri’s lips, jaw and neck, and grinding his hips down ever so slightly on Kankri’s.

 “Kan?”

“No.” Kankri ground out, face flushing, “Don’t stop now you – if you’ll excuse the expression – you _complete ass_.”

Cronus chuckled into Kankri’s neck and sucked at the soft skin there – Kankri moaned softly, then yanked him up by one horn to capture his mouth, his kiss hot and needy.

By the time they’d managed to sleepily wriggle their way out of clothes both of their bulges were unsheathed, intertwining desperately in search of heat and friction, the small relief they got from the feel of them curling round each other not enough to release any of the tension coiled in Cronus’ gut.

He reached down to gently untangle them, noting with satisfaction that the loss of friction caused Kankri to hiss and rut at his hand. In fact Kankri was impatient enough to roll back over until he was straddling Cronus’ hips – the look of fury and desperation on his face forcing Cronus to choke back a snort of laughter.

“Here,” he crooned softly, guiding his bulge into Kankri’s dripping nook, closing his eyes at the sweet heat there engulfed him, and Kankri sighed as his ache for contact was assuaged.

He began to rock slowly, the fibres of his over-large shirt tickling Cronus’ bare stomach – Cronus didn’t really mind though; not with Kankri’s heavy-lidded eyes eating up every inch of his body, and the motion of his lithe form sending shoots of pleasure out to burn in his gut and curl his toes.

When Cronus couldn’t take it anymore he wrapped strong hands around Kankri’s waist, thrusting up and grinning widely at the chirps and moans he drew from his matesprits kiss-bruised lips.

 _I guess I don’t mind the daymares if this how we get back to sleep,_ he thought giddily as Kankri leaned down to plaster him with messy kisses, babbling _“I love you I love you I – I – ahhh-”_

 

 

The next night was a lazy one, drowsy as Cronus and Kankri were, and before long they gave up trying to be productive and sat curled on the sofa, drinking mugs of hot sweet tea. It didn’t take long for Damara to wake up and turn the television to troll anime, perching up of the sofa cushion behind Cronus’ head and playing with his soft curls absentmindedly. A half hour late Porrim entered, with something suspicious in a nondescript mug and sat down on Kankri’s free side, planting a kiss to his forehead and wrinkling her nose at the television screen.

She stretched her legs over Kankri’s to poke her toenails into Cronus’s thigh and he flipped her off affectionately as Damara stroked soothing fingers through his hair. A typical Ampora evening.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand there you have it. I'm sorry I freaked so many of you out with that last chapter - but the whole universe-resetting thing was hinted from the first sentence of this fic *in my defense* :L  
> I've had so much fun writing this and thank you so much to everyone who took the time to comment and give me feedback (even if it was just "oh fuck u" or wild keyboard smashing - i appreciate u all :3)  
> It might be a while before I embark on another project of this scale, but I could see myself doing a few drabbles now and then.  
> As ever, if you want to talk I'm over on tumbler @ thefastestclockintheuniverse  
> Otherwise, peace out for now <3


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